State Route 197 (SR 197) is a primary

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

in the U.S. state of

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. The state highway runs from SR 147 in

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

east to U.S. Route 1 (US 1) and US 301 in Richmond.

Route description

SR 197 begins at an intersection with SR 147 (Cary Street) in the

Windsor Farms Windsor Farms is a 20th-century neighborhood in Richmond, Virginia, of primarily Colonial Revival design. Designed in 1926, Windsor Farms is one of Richmond's first planned neighborhoods. It was designed to look like an English village, with curv ...

neighborhood of Richmond. The state highway heads northeast on Malvern Avenue, a four-lane undivided street that passes through a residential area and intersects SR 6 (Patterson Avenue) and Monument Avenue. North of Broad Street, which carries US 33 and

US 250 U.S. Route 250 (US 250) is a route of the United States Numbered Highway System, and is a spur of U.S. Route 50. It currently runs for from Richmond, Virginia to Sandusky, Ohio. It passes through the states of Virginia, West Virginia, and Ohi ...

, SR 197 enters an industrial area and leaves the city of Richmond. The state highway follows Westwood Avenue through Henrico County. SR 197 expands to a

divided highway A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...

as it passes under Interstate 195 (I-195, Beltline Expressway) with no access, then crosses over

CSX CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...

's RF&P Subdivision. North of the railroad tracks, Westwood Avenue splits to the east at a partial

trumpet interchange In the field of road transport, an interchange (American English) or a grade-separated junction (British English) is a road junction that uses grade separations to allow for the movement of traffic between two or more roadways or highways, using ...

; there is no direct access from westbound Westwood Avenue to eastbound SR 197 or from westbound SR 197 to eastbound Westwood Avenue. SR 197 continues as Saunders Avenue, which re-enters the city of Richmond just north of the Westwood Avenue interchange and has a short split section just south of its junction with Laburnum Avenue. SR 197 continues east along four-lane divided Laburnum Avenue, which also heads west as an unnumbered street a short distance to a partial

diamond interchange A diamond interchange is a common type of road junction, used where a controlled-access highway crosses a minor road. Design The freeway itself is grade-separated from the minor road, one crossing the other over a bridge. Approaching the ...

with I-195 just south of its junction with I-64 and I-95 (Richmond–Petersburg Turnpike). SR 197 passes under the two Interstates just south of their divergence point and passes an entrance to westbound I-64. The state highway continues east through a residential area where it intersects SR 161 (Hermitage Road); in the center of the intersection is a statue of

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between ...

General

A.P. Hill Ambrose Powell Hill Jr. (November 9, 1825April 2, 1865) was a Confederate general who was killed in the American Civil War. He is usually referred to as A. P. Hill to differentiate him from another, unrelated Confederate general, Daniel Harvey Hi ...

. After intersecting Brook Road, SR 197 reaches its eastern terminus at US 1 and US 301 (Chamberlayne Avenue) in the Ginter Park neighborhood. Laburnum Avenue continues as a partial circumferential highway of Richmond through Henrico County that provides access to Richmond Raceway and East Highland Park and eventually ends at the junction of SR 5 and SR 895.

Major intersections

References

External links

{{AttachedKML, display=title,inline
Virginia Highways Project: VA 197

197 Year 197 ( CXCVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Magius and Rufinus (or, less frequently, year 950 '' Ab urbe con ...

State Route 197 State Route 197