Welcome to the second Hunty Roads Monthly Blog Post. This second edition has some different features compared to the first one, such as having 2 "mini-posts" in this one, in addition to a new "Monthly Road Trip %" section. The "Virginia Road Work" section was removed mostly due to me not knowing what I was doing with almost no idea if any projects even made any progress in March.
Another thing different I'll be doing with these is the route posts. Last month, I did VA-227 and VA-298. Both routes are quite short, and are 3 digit state routes. Those posts were the 11th and 12th in a streak of me doing 3 digit state routes. That streak would end with the next post, which was VA-75. From now on, I'll be eliminating state routes from being released alongside these monthly blogs.
This edition's route posts are I-77 and US 29. The I-77 post is the first interstate highway post here since I-664 on 12/12/2023. The US 29 post is the biggest post I've done on this website since the I-64 post which was released shortly after the Road Trips page in August 2023.
March Travels:
Unlike the past 2 months this year, March was an actual good month for my travels. I visited 12 counties and 2 cities this month, including 4 new counties and 1 new city. I took two road trips this month, with the latter one being my biggest since August 28, 2023.
To start off the month of March, I obviously posted last month's blog post. The travelling started the next day, when I went on a trip to Buckingham County. I would only take 48 pictures on that trip. On the 5th, I took pictures as I went into Charlottesville, where I would take my 18,000th picture on my phone all time (this does include non-road pictures). That short "trip" would give me 63 photos.
My first real road trip of the year/month would come on March 18, exactly one year after my first trip to Culpeper. This time, the trip would go all the way up north to Winchester. That trip would be my first ever time in Warren, Clarke, Frederick, and Shenandoah counties, and the City of Winchester. I would also be in Rappahannock County for the first time ever outside of Skyline Drive, and Page County for the first time since November 11, 2023.
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| VA-231 approaching its northern end in Sperryville. |
I wouldn't do much travelling until the 30th, where I finally visited Orange County for the first time this year on a very short trip for an Easter party. The next day, which was actually Easter (and when this was typed), I took a short trip which involved some minor new mileage in southwestern Greene/northwestern Albemarle counties.
March Posts/Pages:
For the month of March, I published 5 new route posts. These range from very short town streets in South Boston and West Point to routes in Washington and Middlesex counties.
Just like last month, here's the list of updated route posts:
Mini-posts:
Two mini-posts this time! Both of which have a major part of their research done on the Virginia Highways Index. Please, go check their website for more info on the history of US 29 in Virginia, and for all of the mentioned routes in the second mini-post.
US 29 History (Madison-Charlottesville):
Currently, US 29 between Madison and Charlottesville is a 4 to 8 lane divided highway. It is usually busy between SR-649 in Hollymead and US 250 at the Charlottesville City Limits. Obviously, like most roads, US 29 wasn't always this way.
The route in this area was first signed as US 29 in 1931, replacing VA-28. The original route used Business US 29 through Madison, before joining its current route from the SR-687 intersection to SR-645 in Greene County, US 29 then took SR-645 to VA-17 (now US 33) in Ruckersville. The route would head west with VA-17, before leaving it and continuing south on what is now SR-743, using it all the way down to Charlottesville. In the city, US 29 continued on what is now Hyrdaulic Road and Rugby Road, before using Main Street, and merging onto what is now Business US 29. The route continued using this route, before crossing under the area which would later become US 29, and continuing on Fontaine Avenue Extension, before heading onto Teel Lane as it crosses through what is now I-64, before merging back on its current route.
The first changes to this section of US 29 would come in 1934, when the route was placed on a new straight alignment from Ruckersville to Charlottesville. Also in this new alignment was another straight stretch from Ruckersville, north to its current intersection with SR-645. This left behind SR-743 and SR-645, and eliminated the concurrency with VA-4 (previously VA-17, currently US 33).
Before 1955, this entire portion of US 29 was a 2-lane undivided highway. That would change in 1955, when the route was widened a couple miles north of Charlottesville. The next year, US 29 was widened to the South Fork Rivanna River. The widening continued in 1958, when the route was widened north to SR-649.
In 1962, US 29 was re-routed on its bypass around the town of Madison. The next widening wouldn't come until 1965, which included the route being widened from the Greene/Albemarle County Line south to SR-649. The final 4-lane widening for this portion would come in 1968, with the part from the Madison Bypass to the Greene/Albemarle County Line being widened. This also removed the roundabout that was at the current US 29/US 33 intersection (which was mentioned at the very end of last month's post).
Nowadays, US 29 is at least 6 lanes from SR-649 in Hollymead to the interchange with US 250. This part includes an 8 lane portion from SR-643 to SR-743 within it.
Counties Lacking State Routes:
Both of these counties both have two US Routes each, with Essex County having US 17 & US 360, and Page County having US 211 & US 340.
The first state routes in Essex County were VA-8 and VA-13, both created as original routes in 1918. VA-8 used a very similar alignment to what is now US 17, before getting renumbered into VA-38 in 1923. VA-13 used a very similar alignment to current US 360, becoming US 360 in 1933. There was also VA-604 and VA-621 in the county, which both became VA-199 and VA-215, respectively, in 1933. The latter, VA-215, got downgraded to SR-627 in 1944, while VA-199 got downgraded to SR-684 around 1957. That seems to be Essex County's last taste of having a state route.
Across the mountains over in Page County, their first state route was VA-16, which was an original route from 1918. The route crossed into the county using current US 211, going through Luray on Business US 211, before using SR-689 and SR-611 south of the town, and crossing into Madison County on Fishers Gap. In 1922, the part of VA-16 in Page County became VA-21, with US 211 being added on top of it in 1926. In 1933, the route was removed, leaving US 211 alone. In 1928-30, VA-815/816/821/836 were created in the county, but all four of them were renumbered to VA-340, VA-258, and VA-266, respectively, in 1933. Part of VA-836 was turned into VA-231 as well.
VA-340 would only survive until 1936, before becoming VA-12. VA-258 would last until 1940, before getting 100 subtracted from its number and becoming VA-158. VA-266 would have the best luck, staying and taking over the short piece of VA-231 in the county in 1944, at the expense of its section northwest of Luray. VA-158 would not last long with its new number, getting downgraded to SR-650 in 1943. VA-266 would continue to be in the system until 1952, before being downgraded to SR-689. VA-12 would survive until 1954, before getting the upgrade to US 340, making VA-12 the last state route inside of Page County.
Monthly Road Trip %:
This is a new part of the blog for this month. The purpose of this is to be a list with tons of different places that I could possibly take a road trip to, and have the chances of me actually going on that trip.
As for the "Updates From Last Month", use this as last month.
| Place | Chances | Updates From Last Month |
| Richmond Area, VA | 90% | 0% |
| Virginia Beach, VA | 80% | 0% |
| Massanutten, VA | 75% | +55% |
| Hinesville/Savannah, GA | 70% | +5% |
| Harrisonburg, VA | 65% | [NEW] |
| Lynchburg, VA | 65% | +15% |
| Buckingham Co. VA | 60% | [NEW] |
| Ocean City, MD | 60% | +10% |
| Staunton, VA | 55% | [NEW] |
| Yorktown, VA | 55% | -5% |
| Fayetteville, NC | 50% | +15% |
| Franklin, WV | 50% | [NEW] |
| Hilton Head, SC | 50% | +10% |
| Myrtle Beach, SC | 45% | +10% |
| Washington, DC | 45% | +10% |
| Cape Charles, VA | 40% | -15% |
| Doswell, VA | 40% | +15% |
| Bristol, TN-VA | 35% | +20% |
| Luray, VA | 30% | -40% |
| Gainesville, VA | 30% | [NEW] |
| Rehoboth Beach, DE | 30% | 0% |
| Front Royal, VA | 25% | [NEW] |
| Winchester, VA | 20% | [NEW] |
| Baltimore, MD | 15% | [NEW] |
| Wildwood, NJ | 15% | -5% |
| Leesburg, VA | 10% | [NEW] |
| Martinsburg, WV | 10% | [NEW] |
| Dallas-Fort Worth, TX | 5% | -10% |
| Eclipse Totality Path | 5% | [NEW] |
| Farmville, VA | 5% | [NEW] |
| International (VIA Cruise) | 5% | -5% |
| Ocala, FL | 1% | -9% |
Next Month's Post:
Of course, I'll publish another blog next month, on May 1st. I'll likely continue to experiment with the blog, adding more segments, or removing a couple. The section above will look different with more new trip possibilities and some trips being taken/cancelled. I might also see how the next blog post will do without any mini-posts.
Finally, just like last month, I'll do another fun fact to end this one off; Lynchburg is the largest city in the state not to be served by the interstate system. Instead, the city has its own freeway network.
