This is it, the first one. I went to eat lunch so I could think about what to replace the "Updates" page with, and this is what I left the restaurant with. I have some good plans for this blog section. So, stick around in the next couple of months as I play around with this new addition to Hunty Roads.
February Travels:
I haven't done much this month in terms of travelling. My county map still sits with 2 counties (Greene and Albemarle) and 1 city (Charlottesville). I did take 3 "road trips" this month, the latter two giving me some new secondary route pictures/milage in southwestern Greene County.
Those three road trips were on the 5th, 11th, and 18th. The first trip was basically a repeat of my August 8, 2023 warm-up trip for Ocean City, MD. The latter two both share the same destination, just with a mostly different route + different weather. On February 21st, I went down to Disharoon Park in Charlottesville to attend a UVA Baseball game, which the 'Hoos won, 8-0.
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| SR-810 heading north into Dyke. 2/18/24. |
On the 24th, I got my very first pictures on SR-670 in Greene County, but for some odd reason, I didn't decide to continue into Orange County. If I had continued, that would be my first time in the county since December 23, 2023.
February Posts/Pages:
For the month of February, I published 6 new route posts. These range from routes in Shenandoah County to short routes out in Accomack County. Below is a list of the new posts I have made in February:
I will also provide a list of each route post that I have updated this month:
Virginia Road Work - February:
The I-64/US 60 Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel Expansion Project is currently going well, with major upgrades since the last time I went on it in July 2023. I will get more pictures of the construction if I take I-64 the next time I go to VA Beach in the summer.
Also on I-64, the GAP Segment A widening is currently underway in New Kent County. I will likely get some pictures if my current planned trip to the Richmond Area does happen next week.
The Broadview Avenue Improvements in the town of Warrenton is going to start this summer, which will install 5 foot wide bike lanes on both sides of the street, reconstruct the Frost Avenue and Broadview Avenue intersection, and more.
Down in southern Albemarle County, SR-708 is getting a bridge rehabilitation over the North Fork Hardware River. Currently, the intersection between SR-708 and VA-20 has a temporary traffic signal, which I do have pictures of.
Now, let’s get a little off topic for the “mini-post” for the month.
US 33 Widening in Greene County (1993/94):
US 33 in central Greene County is currently a 4 lane divided highway. Prior to 1993, the only 4 lane stretch in the county was at the Rockingham County line on Swift Run Gap. There was no Stanardsville Bypass during this time frame either, since that wouldn't be built until the very end of the millennium, opening in 2000.
I have been on and off researching the pre-1993 version of this route. I found lots of good stuff on numerous websites. With the help of topo and aerial maps, the old alignments before the widening are quite obvious.
Coming eastbound down the mountain, US 33 continued on what is now the westbound lanes, and the current eastbound lanes parallel what is now a destroyed road, which connected US 33 to SR-810 before the widening. The route continued on the westbound lanes until the present-day western US 33/Bus. US 33 intersection. US 33 would use its business alignment through Stanardsville, before curving onto F-1118, which this route is surprisingly still named Spotswood Trail.
At about the point where the frontage road curves left for its intersection with SR-609, the old US 33 would curve right, crossing the current alignment and onto Crusaders Court, passing the United Christian Academy. The route would continue past the current southern dead end and slowly cross the current US 33, before tying in with the current westbound lanes again right around here.
Old US 33 would continue east on the westbound lanes, passing a very old alignment from before 1930. That route is currently signed as SR-608 (Stephens Loop). The old route continued straight past the point where the current US 33 westbound lanes curve towards Quinque, but Old US 33 also curved shortly after, intersecting Stephens Loop at a different angle.
The old route then came into Quinque, passing by what is currently Pic N Pac, Snow's Antiques, a US Post Office, and Ryan's Funeral Home right in front of the building as Old US 33 intersected SR-633 (Amicus Road). After leaving Quinque, the now destroyed old alignment merges with the current westbound lanes once again, US 33 continued east on the westbound lanes until it approached Ruckersville, where it widened to what looks like either a 2 lane divided, plus a turning lane heading eastbound, or 3 lanes divided, plus a turning lane eastbound, according to semi-blurry imagery on Historic Aerials. But, the old 2 lane US 33 intersected US 29, and continued straight on the current 2 lane undivided highway, though the part just east of US 29 was turned into a 2 lane divided highway in 2023.
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| The white line east of the current route is close to how the old alignment came into Quinque. Credit: 2024 Google Maps Satellite View. |
When US 33 was widened in 1993/94, it was only from US 29 west to what is currently Crusaders Court. VDOT added a new alignment for the entirety of the eastbound lanes, and for a large section of the westbound lanes.
Eventually, in 1998-2000, the Stanardsville Bypass would be built from the eastern end of the 4 lane highway to a spot west of the town, bypassing the town of Stanardsville to the south. US 33 was also widened from the west end of the bypass to just west of SR-810.
Back onto the blog's main topic...
Next Month:
Next month, I will release another blog post like this. That will be released on April 1st, of course. It will likely include two "mini-posts", since I'll have the whole month to research and get the next monthly post ready. I might add another element to this next month, since about 40% of the blog post is about US 33's old alignment. And yes, I am open to suggestions for next month's edition. Hopefully, I have more travelling to share in next month's edition as well.
And a fun fact to end the inaugural Monthly Blog post, the intersection of US 29 and US 33 in Ruckersville was a roundabout up until some point between 1963 and 1984.
