| US 17 | |||
| Begin | Portsmouth | ||
| End | Winchester | ||
| Length | 243 mi | ||
| Length | 391 km | ||
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According to A2zdirectory, US 17 is a US Highway in the US state of Virginia. The road forms a north-south route that runs northwest from the border with North Carolina, through the Hampton Roads conurbation through Fredericksburg to its end at Winchester in the far north of the state. The route is 391 kilometers long.
Travel directions
Hampton Roads
The James River Bridge between Chesapeake and Newport News.
US 17 in North Carolina comes from Elizabeth City and is a 2×2 divided highway that runs along the east side of the Dismal Swamp. One then reaches Chesapeake, one of the larger cities of the Hampton Roads urban region. The intersection of the Elizabeth River is constructed as a short freeway that empties at the interchange with Interstate 64 and Interstate 464. US 17 then follows I-64 west to the George Washington Highway, entering the city of Portsmouth. Portsmouth has an interchange with Interstate 264. The road then forms an urban arterialthrough Portsmouth and proceed west out of the city. West of Portsmouth it follows an interchange with Interstate 664.
This is followed by the first major bridge, the 1.3 kilometer long Nansemond River Bridge, followed shortly after by the 0.8 kilometer long Crittenden Bridge. These bridges span estuaries of the Hampton Roads water region. US 258 splits off at Bartlett. Then follows the longest bridge, the more than 7 kilometers long James River Bridge to Newport News. Through Newport News, US 17 forms a 2×3 lane urban arterial and intersects US 60. Here the road leads a longer stretch through built-up areas and cross-links for the second time with I-64. Next up is the George P. Coleman Memorial Bridge over the York River, the last major bridge in the Hampton Roads area. US 17 then enters the Middle Peninsula.
Middle Peninsula
The Middle Peninsula is one of three major peninsulas on the east coast of Virginia. The US 17 follows an approximately 150 kilometer long route to Fredericksburg. US 17 is largely a 2×2 divided highway across the peninsula, with only a few single-lane sections. The Middle Peninsula is less populated, the southernmost part still has a few distant suburbs, but after that the area is rural, with quite a lot of forest. US 17 crosses the north side of the peninsula, close to the Rappahannock River. The main town on the route is Tappahannock. US 17 then forms the southern bypass of Fredericksburg, after which US 17 and US 1 run through Fredericksburg together. The Interstate 95runs parallel to this, US 17 crosses I-95 three times.
Northern Virginia
US 17/50 near Winchester.
Subsequently, US 17 forms a regional bypass of the Washington, DC region. The road remains outside the suburban region and comes no closer than about 70 kilometers from Washington. The US 17 here leads through a rural area with first many forests, later more meadows and various small towns. Almost the entire US 17 has 2×2 lanes here. From Opal to Warrenton, US 17 with US 15 and US 29 is double numbered. There is a freeway bypass around Warrenton.
Further north, US 17 between Marshall and Delaplane briefly coincides with Interstate 66. Between I-66 and Paris the US 17 is briefly single lane, from Paris the US 17 is double numbered with the US 50, this part has 2×2 lanes and runs over the 313 meter high Ashby Gap, the only mountain pass of the US 17. The road then travels through the great valley of the Shenandoah River and ends at the town of Winchester on Interstate 81.
History
According to agooddir, US 17 was created in 1926 and ended on US 1 in Fredericksburg at the time. In 1965 the route was further extended to Winchester. The US 17 is a fairly important road for regional traffic and the majority of the route is a divided highway with 2×2 lanes.
First, US 17 was widened to a multi-lane road through the Portsmouth area in the 1950s. In the late 1950s, US 17 began widening parallel to the Potomac River between the Hampton Roads and Fredericksburg region. By 1969, much of this corridor had 2×2 lanes. This route was given priority because no Interstate Highway was planned in this region. US 17 is actually an alternate route between the Hampton Roads and Washington regions, although it’s no faster than I-64/I-95 via Richmond.
The first upgrade on the northern section of the route was the section from Opal to Warrenton, which was provided with 2×2 lanes in 1966. Also then, the 4-lane stretch across Ashby Gap in the north of the state opened. During the 1970s-80s, long stretches of US 17 west of I-95 were widened to 2×2 lanes. In 1998, the northern section of the Warrenton Bypass opened.
In Chesapeake, US 17 has been upgraded to a 2×2 lane freeway. This section of 5 kilometers was opened on November 1, 2016, for which a new bridge has been built over the Elizabeth River, since February 9, 2017 a toll has been levied here.
Toll
The Veterans Bridge over the Elizabeth River in Chesapeake ( Hampton Roads region ) is subject to a toll. This is an electronic toll collection with E-ZPass and registration toll.
