In the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

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 ...

, U.S. Route 220 (US 220) is a major north-south

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 ...

that extends from the

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

state line through Roanoke to the

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

state line. South of Roanoke, US 220 is a four-lane highway within the proposed

Interstate 73 Interstate 73 (I-73) is a north–south Interstate Highway, located within the US state of North Carolina. Currently, there is one continuous section of I-73, totaling , first traversing the U.S. Route 220 (US 220) freeway from ...

(I-73) corridor. US 220 narrows to two lanes north of Roanoke, connecting to

I-64 Interstate 64 (I-64) is an east–west Interstate Highway in the Eastern United States. Its western terminus is at I-70, U.S. Route 40 (US 40), and US 61 in Wentzville, Missouri. Its eastern terminus is at an interchange w ...

near

Clifton Forge Clifton Forge is a town in Alleghany County, Virginia, United States which is part of the greater Roanoke Region. The population was 3,555 at the 2020 census. The Jackson River flows through the town, which as a result was once known as Jac ...

and then paralleling the

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They ...

north-northeasterly in the direction of

Cumberland, Maryland Cumberland is a U.S. city in and the county seat of Allegany County, Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its s ...

Route description

US 220 enters Virginia just north of the community of

Price, North Carolina Price is an unincorporated community in northern Rockingham County, North Carolina, United States, located on U.S. Route 220 U.S. Route 220 (US 220) is a spur route of US 20. It runs in a north–south layout in the eastern Uni ...

. From the state line to Roanoke, US 220 is a four-lane mix of

freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...

bypasses and at-grade rural highway. Some high traffic areas and non-divided stretches have speed limits of or lower. In particular, the stretch through

Boones Mill Boones Mill is a town in Franklin County, Virginia, United States. The population was 239 in 2018, down from 285 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Roanoke Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Boones Mill was incorporated in 1927. It was ...

is not divided; the town is also well known as a

speed trap Speed limits are enforced on most public roadways by authorities, with the purpose to improve driver compliance with speed limits. Methods used include roadside speed traps set up and operated by the police and automated roadside 'speed camera' ...

. This segment follows the same general alignment as the

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31 ...

Winston-Salem District Winston-Salem is a city and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the second-largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region, the 5th most populous city in N ...

, opened in 1892 by the Roanoke and Southern Railway. US 220 meets the northern terminus of State Route 87 in Ridgeway, and soon after turns west to bypass the city of Martinsville on a freeway partially shared with

US 58 U.S. Route 58 (US 58) is an east–west U.S. Highway that runs for from U.S. Route 25E just northwest of Harrogate, Tennessee, to U.S. Route 60 in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Until 1996, when the Cumberland Gap Tunnel opened, US 58 ran only ...

. Another bypass takes the highway around the town of Rocky Mount, after which US 220 crosses the Blue Ridge at

Murray Gap Murray may refer to: Businesses * Murray (bicycle company), an American manufacturer of low-cost bicycles * Murrays, an Australian bus company * Murray International Trust, a Scottish investment trust * D. & W. Murray Limited, an Australian who ...

. Soon after entering the city of Roanoke, US 220 intersects SR 419 and again becomes a freeway, this one passing just east of

downtown Roanoke Downtown is the central business district of Roanoke, Virginia, United States. Located geographically at the center of the city, Downtown began its development with the completion of the Shenandoah Valley Railroad in 1882. Today the Downtown co ...

and becoming

Interstate 581 Interstate 581 (I-581) is a spur off I-81 into Roanoke, Virginia, completely overlapping US Route 220 (US 220). It is planned to be connected to I-73. Future I-73 Corridor signs are marked on I-581 on the southbound side just ...

northwest to

Interstate 81 Interstate 81 (I-81) is a north–south (physically northeast–southwest) Interstate Highway in the eastern part of the United States. Its southern terminus is at I-40 in Dandridge, Tennessee; its northern terminus is on Wellesley Island ...

. US 220 overlaps I-81 northeast to near Daleville, where it exits to the north onto a four-lane road through Daleville and Fincastle. Near

Eagle Rock Eagle Rock may refer to: Entertainment * "Eagle Rock" (song), a hit single in 1971 by Australian band Daddy Cool * "Eagle Rock", a song by Motörhead * Eagle Rock Entertainment, a record label Places * Eagle Rock (formation), in California * Eag ...

, the road narrows to two lanes and begins to parallel the

James River The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 to Chesapea ...

. US 220 follows the James River and its major tributary, the Jackson River, north to near

, where it begins to overlap

Interstate 64 Interstate 64 (I-64) is an east–west Interstate Highway in the Eastern United States. Its western terminus is at I-70, U.S. Route 40 (US 40), and US 61 in Wentzville, Missouri. Its eastern terminus is at an interchange w ...

and

US 60 U.S. Route 60 is a major east–west United States highway, traveling from southwestern Arizona to the Atlantic Ocean coast in Virginia. The highway's eastern terminus is in Virginia Beach, Virginia, where it is known as Pacific Avenue, in the ...

west, still following the Jackson River, to Covington. Also paralleling these rivers are

CSX Transportation 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. ...

Alleghany Subdivision The Alleghany Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in the U.S. states of Virginia and West Virginia. It was formerly part of the CSX Huntington East Division.http://www.multimodalways.org/docs/railroads/companies/CSX/CSX%20ET ...

and

James River Subdivision The Richmond and Alleghany Railroad was built along the James River (Virginia), James River along the route of the James River and Kanawha Canal from Richmond, Virginia, Richmond on the Atlantic Seaboard fall line, Fall Line at the head of navigati ...

, opened in 1867 and 1881 respectively by the

Virginia Central Railroad The Virginia Central Railroad was an early railroad in the U.S. state of Virginia that operated between 1850 and 1868 from Richmond westward for to Covington. Chartered in 1836 as the Louisa Railroad by the Virginia General Assembly, the railr ...

and

Richmond and Alleghany Railroad The Richmond and Alleghany Railroad was built along the James River along the route of the James River and Kanawha Canal from Richmond on the Fall Line at the head of navigation to a point west of Lynchburg near Buchanan, Virginia, and combined ...

. US 220 is a two-lane road for the rest of its route from Covington to West Virginia, as it travels through a series of valleys in the

Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians The Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians, also called the Ridge and Valley Province or the Valley and Ridge Appalachians, are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian division and are also a belt within the Appalachian Mountains extending ...

. It begins by following more of the Jackson River to near Clearwater Park, but then crosses a ridge into a different valley. This is repeated several times until Forks of Waters, where the

South Branch Potomac River The South Branch Potomac River has its headwaters in northwestern Highland County, Virginia near Hightown along the eastern edge of the Allegheny Front. After a river distance of ,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolu ...

enters US 220's valley and parallels its final to the state line.

History

Part of the Great Wagon Road branched off near what is present day Roanoke, Virginia, and U.S. Route 220 in Virginia now follows part of this section of the

Carolina Road The Carolina Road or the "Old Carolina Road" are names for various sections of the Great Wagon Road and other routes in colonial America. "The 'Old Carolina Road', extending from Lancaster, Pennsylvania to the Yadkin Valley, was one of the most he ...

. "The route was improved as a stage road in the early years of the republic. In 1838 it was rebuilt to serve the Pittsylvania, Franklin and Botetourt Turnpike, which served to connect south central Virginia with the Valley." As a

U.S. Highway The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. As the designation and numbering of these h ...

, US 220 was initially part of U.S. Route 311, which split from

US 11 {{Infobox road , country=USA , type=US , route=11 , map={{maplink, frame=yes, plain=yes, frame-align=center, frame-width=290, frame-height=330, type=line, from=U.S. Route 11.map , map_custom=yes , map_notes=US 11 in red, US 11E in blue, US 11W in ...

at Roanoke and ran south to

Aberdeen, North Carolina Aberdeen is a town in Moore County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 6,350 at the 2010 census. History Scottish emigrants were the first Europeans to settle the area beginning in 1745. They were drawn to the area by bountiful ...

. This was also part of State Route 33, one of Virginia's original state highways from 1918 (which was numbered 3 until 1923). Other than the

overlap, two other segments date to 1918: part of SR 17 from Covington to Warm Springs, and part of SR 39 (originally 9) from Vanderpool to

Monterey Monterey (; es, Monterrey; Ohlone: ) is a city located in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under both ...

. Otherwise the gaps were filled starting in 1922, with the legislative designation of a spur of SR 14 from

south to

, which was numbered State Route 142 in 1923. 1924 saw the beginning of the extension of SR 142 southwest to US 11 at Troutville, and it was also extended along SR 14 east to Longdale Furnace and then north to Millboro Springs. In 1926 it became part of a realignment of SR 17, with that route's former routing to Covington becoming part of new State Route 338. The first piece of State Route 395, which ended up extending from Warm Springs to West Virginia, was also created in 1924 as a spur from SR 39 at Monterey. The entire Covington-West Virginia corridor (SR 395 and part of SR 338) became State Route 800 in 1928 (along with an extension southwest from Covington), and was renumbered State Route 18 in 1933. Also in 1933, the part of SR 17 south of Clifton Forge became State Route 12. US 220 was extended into Virginia in 1935, replacing SR 18 north of Covington, all of SR 12, and all of US 311 in Virginia. US 311 has since been re-extended into the state west of Danville. The modern US 220 corridor was added to the state highway system as follows:

Major intersections

References

{{state detail page browse, type=US, route=220, state=Virginia, statebefore=North Carolina, stateafter=West Virginia 20-2

U.S. Route 220 U.S. Route 220 (US 220) is a spur route of US 20. It runs in a north–south layout in the eastern United States, unlike its parent route as well as conventionally even-numbered highways which run east-west. US 220 extends for f ...

Virginia

Route description

History

Major intersections

See also

References