Virginia Roads - US 33/US 15/US 250

US 33, US 15/33, US 33/250



RIDOT strikes again, EB in Harrisonburg courtesy Lou Corsaro and from Burgess Rd. EB at US 33/Market St.


EB under a Southern Railway (now part of NS) bridge in Barboursville.


US 33 EB comes into the Gordonsville roundabout with VA 231 SB (a short-lived arrangement) and leaves in dalliance with US 15 SB.


Other perspectives from VA 231 NB and US 15 NB/US 33 WB.


WB advance signage for the roundabout seems to ignore its existence. I'd say that's because it's quite new and the signs are old, but I really think the signs are just designed to old standards, possibly having replaced prior signs in kind when the roundabout went in without giving thought to elucidating the messages. The distance sign in particular looks new and old at the same time, with tiny all-caps letters and arrows.


EB under the same railroad and leaving Gordonsville.


Crossing the county line is enough to bring US 15/33 into the east side of incorporated Gordonsville.


Crossing the county line the other way is enough to separate US 33 EB from US 15 NB. The last two photos are in Louisa, where it seems the VA Dept. of Historic Resources forgot that signs should be somewhere near what they reference.

WB in Louisa, courtesy Lou Corsaro.


EB out of Louisa to an old alignment west of Glen Allen near SR 730.


I-295 is signed north-south when it's being a bypass of Richmond-Petersburg for I-95. Once that function ceases, the directions cease. VDOT can't handle I-295 changing directions to east-west, but it would make a lot of sense for the northern leg that provides a Richmond bypass for I-64.


Near its end, US 33 joins with US 250, ending while multiplexed in downtown Richmond. Though it could just as easily have ended at the 250 junction, this not only preserves a major city terminus for 33, but links it with the west end of VA 33. An unfortunate side effect of Richmond maintenance has been a key left-turn restriction that prevents US 33 EB traffic from directly accessing VA 33, so while they come out of downtown seeming like a continuous route, they are not at the mesoscopic scale.


US 33/250 WB at the same point.


The WB sign is terrific. The EB sign, not so much. US 33 and VA 197 are both east-west routes, at least in Virginia (US 33 is diagonal overall). The WB sign is at Dabney Rd., which itself would be a fine way to get to VA 197 without waiting at a light.


Looking west from VA 197, where did US 33 go, and why are there so many utility poles in a row? Actually, this is the magic of high zoom, bringing the background into the foreground. But I can't help you with 33.


WB up to Hamilton St., which has two half-interchanges with I-195 to serve US 33/250. It's only one intersection, so why are there bent arrows to turn left?


US 33's back (and it's better than ever) at VA 161.


WB signs bracketing the US 33/250 reassurance. Why does the earlier sign have a straight arrow and the sign closer to the intersection have a bent arrow? This time, it's not a mistake - there was no left turn onto VA 161 directly in 2013, so traffic was directed left on Mulberry St.


I'm thinking this is WB at Strawberry St.

Onto US 15 alone
Onto US 250 alone

Continue east onto VA 33

Into West Virginia on US 33
Onto I-81
Onto VA 197
Onto I-295
To I-64
To I-95
Onto I-195
Onto VA 161
US 33 Non-Roads
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