State Route 254 (SR 254) 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 42 near Buffalo Gap east to

U.S. Route 340 U.S. Route 340 (US 340) is a spur route of US 40, and runs from Greenville, Virginia to Frederick, Maryland. In Virginia, it runs north–south, parallel and east of US 11, from US 11 north of Greenville via Waynesboro, Grottoes, Elkton, ...

(US 340) in Waynesboro. SR 254 provides a northerly alternate route to

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 ...

between Waynesboro and Staunton, where the highway provides access to the

Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library The Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library and Museum is a complex located in Staunton, Virginia. It contains the President's birthplace, known as the Manse, a Museum that explores the life and times of Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924), a Research Libr ...

Route description

SR 254 begins at an intersection with SR 42 in the hamlet of Buffalo Gap. SR 42 heads west as Parkersburg Turnpike through the namesake water gap in Little North Mountain, and north as Buffalo Gap Highway. SR 254 heads east as two-lane undivided Parkersburg Turnpike, which crosses the Middle River and enters the city of Staunton at its

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 SR 262 (Woodrow Wilson Parkway). The state highway continues as Beverley Street toward downtown Staunton, where the highway splits into a

one-way pair A one-way pair, one-way couple, or couplet refers to that portion of a bi-directional traffic facilitysuch as a road, bus, streetcar, or light rail linewhere its opposing flows exist as two independent and roughly parallel facilities. Descriptio ...

, Beverley Street eastbound and Frederick Street westbound. SR 254 soon intersects US 250 and US 11 Business, which follow Augusta Street south and New Street north. SR 254 passes the

American Shakespeare Center The American Shakespeare Center (ASC) is a regional theatre company located in Staunton, Virginia, that focuses on the plays of William Shakespeare; his contemporaries Ben Jonson, Beaumont and Fletcher, Christopher Marlowe; and works related t ...

Mary Baldwin College Mary Baldwin University (MBU, formerly Mary Baldwin College) is a private university in Staunton, Virginia. It was founded in 1842 as Augusta Female Seminary. Today, Mary Baldwin University is home to the Mary Baldwin College for Women, a resid ...

, and the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library in the eastern part of downtown. The one-way pair concludes at Coalter Street, which westbound SR 254 uses to reach Frederick Street. Beverley Street continues east to the

Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind The Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind, located in Staunton, Virginia, United States, is an institution for educating deaf and blind children, first established in 1839 by an act of the Virginia General Assembly. The school accepts child ...

campus while the state highway turns south onto Coalter Street. Two blocks to the south, SR 254 has a four-way intersection with

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 ...

, US 250, and US 11 Business, for which the intersection serves as its southern terminus. US 250 and US 11 Business head west on Greenville Street, US 11 and US 250 head south on Greenville Street underneath

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. ...

North Mountain Subdivision North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

, and SR 254 and US 11 head east on Commerce Road, a four-lane

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 ...

. The two highways parallel the railroad to New Hope Road; SR 254 leaves US 11 via a two-way ramp to join New Hope Road, which passes under both US 11 and the railroad. SR 254 intersects

SR 261 The following highways are numbered 261: Asia Japan * Japan National Route 261 Malaysia * Malaysia Federal Route 261 Europe Germany * Bundesautobahn 261 Norway * Norwegian County Road 261 Poland * European route E261 North America Canada * P ...

(Statler Boulevard) and leaves of its overpass of

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 ...

. The state highway veers northeast to meet the northern terminus of SR 262 (Woodrow Wilson Boulevard). SR 254 continues east as Hermitage Road, which crosses

Christians Creek Christians Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed August 15, 2011 stream in Augusta County, Virginia, Augusta County in the U.S. state of Virginia. It is a tributary o ...

and gradually curves southeast and south to the city of Waynesboro. The state highway enters the city as Ivy Street, then turns south onto Poplar Street and has a grade crossing of the CSX rail line. SR 254 intersects US 250 (Broad Street) one block north of its eastern terminus at US 340 (Main Street) at the west end of downtown Waynesboro.

Major intersections

References

External links

Virginia Highways Project: VA 254
{{end box 254 State Route 254 State Route 254 State Route 254