Virginia Roads - US 58, 1/58




US 58 used to exist solely in Virginia, ending at a tiny piece of US 25E that clipped the corner of the state. This changed in 1998, when 25E was rerouted into a tunnel directly from TN to KY. US 58 was then diverted south to a new interchange and its old west end was turned into this grassy path west from a parking lot along SR 872.


WB historical markers up to the state line. I'm not sure how old the wilderness trail sign is, but it's unusual enough to count as historical.


Courtesy H.B. Elkins, an I-81 NB/US 58 EB BGS old enough to have survived renumbering.


VA 140 SB at the duplex with a state-name shield, courtesy Lou Corsaro.


Just before joining I-81, US 58 WB meets US 11 SB and they share this old distance sign to Barter Theatre in Abingdon.


One-piece reassurance and overall narrow US 220 shields in Martinsville, which is an independent city and thus erects its own signage. The problem here is that this isn't US 58/220, but rather the business routes for them. Courtesy Chris Lawson, forwarded to me by Adam Prince.


US 58 WB/US 29 SB on the south side of Danville, which loves to put tiny street names on its bypass signs.

The next seven photos are courtesy Lou Corsaro (until I say they're mine). The first one atop the page is also from Lou.


Westbound in Danville, just north of NC. Notice how neither set of signs in the first photo has a state associated with the cities (and undersized Expressway notation). The second sign is on the ramp carrying US 58 WB to US 29 SB; 58 once went straight. I-785 will end at the end of the Danville Expressway, having come all the way up the US 29 corridor from Greensboro NC. Interesting tidbit: Lynchburg and lynching are both from Captain Lynch, who started vigilante justice in the frontier.


The signs are correct, actually: both VA 360 and US 360 go east from Danville. VA 360 follows an old, twisty alignment of what was US 360, meeting current US 360 north of S. Boston and Scottsburg. Think they could have come up with a different number?


Skipping the US 360 duplex, all I can read on the first sign is "1A9", which may or may not be what it actually says. It's old. The second sign shows off a bike route shield, where US 58 WB turns left into Damascus and VA 91 NB continues straight from the duplex. In the third photo, taken further up VA 91, the bottom is suddenly rounded instead of square. Why? Because the square was incorrect.


I don't know who replaced these shields on the eastbound Clarksville Bypass, but they may have to put the old ones back. Also, VA 49 is to the left through town, not on the bypass.


Starting back up with my photos, this is the WB ramp to US 15, although almost all signage would have you believe it's the US 15 SB mainline exiting from US 58/VA 49. That means that the first photo, which looks absolutely fine, isn't even an error, just that every other sign is. (I have to believe at some point this situation will be changed to match signage.) But I now know Clarksville can't get anything right, since they matched a fluorescent yellow-green arrow to a green sign. Yes, it has "green" in it, but that's really not the same color.


Two southeastward views and one to the northwest along John Kerr Reservoir, catching US 15/VA 49/Business US 58 and a railroad behind it.


Business 58 WB in Boydton at the beginning of this state highway.


EB into South Hill, I start off on US 58 and end up on US 58 Business in the last two photos, both of which are courtesy Lou Corsaro. If you can't read the diamond sign, then they didn't make it well enough.


Continuing eastbound on Business 58. US 58 now bypasses South Hill, but don't tell anyone.


The other non-US 1 approaches to the intersection, VA 47 SB and Business US 58 WB.


EB from Lawrenceville to Franklin, courtesy Lou Corsaro. There are two chances for ugly shields in Lawrenceville because Truck VA 49 follows the opposite end of Business US 58.


Also from Lou, these terrible renditions of shields are on the WB offramp that carries the mainline of VA 189 and leads to what was apparently mainline US 258 until recently, because both the new sign at the base of the ramp and the older EB BGS from the prior photo run were made without the truck route in mind.


US 460 EB just turned right on Military Highway, leaving US 13 with US 58 for a mile through the I-664 interchange. Curiously, US 13 then turns on the far side of the interchange and backtracks to meet 460. Why wouldn't they just go together? Even more curiously, it seems that US 460 WB follows US 13 SB on the long way around. They should both head southwest on Military Highway and VA 191 should begin there.


Actually, even though US 460 left, Alt. US 460 continues on to keep US 58 company, actually a much faster route to Norfolk than regular 460. This is EB where US 13 leaves to head back to US 460.


Can you spot the incorrect fonts and shields? After going opposite ways through Portsmouth, VA 337 circles back around via I-464 and meets US 58 again in Norfolk. They share a wrong-way duplex dominated by US 58, at which point 337 is mostly a north-south route. I don't mind the RIDOT shield when it looks to be at least 30 years old. All photos are courtesy Lou Corsaro.


Between VA 337 junctions, US 58 exits from itself onto the M.L.K., Jr. Freeway stub. (It's intended to eventually connect to I-264, maybe, someday.) VA 141 continues straight, turning south back into US 17.

A beautiful reassurance just west of the freeway.


Continuing EB past another familiar friend (US 460) to Virginia Beach, once more courtesy Lou Corsaro. The first RIDOT-style shield is at VA 168 (see background shields), and the next two with the narrow shields are at Newtown Rd. The 190 shields should be standard VA-style, and VDOT doesn't use wide shields for multiple-digit secondary roads, anyway. These belong in West Virginia.


Even RIDOT wouldn't come up with something this strange, at Lynnhaven Pkwy., but Virginia Beach isn't a state agency, so their signage offerings are like a box of chocolates.


Another RIDOT shield, this one westbound, at Birdneck Road in Virginia Beach, courtesy Chris Lawson via Adam Prince.


One from the VA Beach Business route, EB entering the downtown area. If I have no idea what to do with the information on a sign, it probably could stand to be better designed. Are these street names/numbers, or parking lot designations? Well, unless "25st", "19st," and "4st" are acceptable ordinal numbers, someone got superscript happy instead of writing out "St" in a readable font like a good human being, and then we might not be having this lesson.

Onto US 1 alone
US 421 and US 58/421
US 23 and US 58/421/23
US 221 and US 58/221
Onto US 360 and US 58/360
Onto US 460 and US 13/58/460


Into Tennessee on US 58
Onto I-81
Exit 10 to US 11
Exit 10 to US 19
Onto US 220
Onto US 29
Onto VA 49
Onto US 15
Onto VA 92
To I-85
Onto US 258
Onto VA 189
Onto VA 337
Onto US 17
Onto I-664
Onto I-264
Onto I-64
Onto US 13
Onto VA 168
Onto VA 190
Back to Virginia Roads
Back to Roads