State Route 32 (SR 32) 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 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 in
Suffolk
Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...
north to
U.S. Route 17
U.S. Route 17 or U.S. Highway 17 (US 17), also known as the Coastal Highway, is a north–south United States Highway that spans in the southeastern United States. It runs close to the Atlantic Coast for much of its length, wit ...
(US 17),
US 258
U.S. Route 258 (US 258) is a spur of US 58 in the U.S. states of North Carolina and Virginia. The U.S. Highway runs from US 17 Business and NC 24 Business in Jacksonville, North Carolina north to Virginia State Route 143 (SR 143) at Fort M ...
, and
SR 143 in
Newport News
Newport News () is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the 5th most populous city in Virginia and 140th most populous city in the Uni ...
. The southernmost part of SR 32 connects Suffolk with the
Albemarle Region of North Carolina via
North Carolina Highway 32
North Carolina Highway 32 (NC 32) is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of North Carolina; it goes through several counties and small communities in the northeastern Inner Banks part of the state. It is in length, and crosses th ...
(NC 32). The remainder of SR 32
runs concurrently with at least one other state or U.S. Highway between Suffolk and Newport News, including
US 13
U.S. Route 13 (US 13) is a north–south U.S. highway established in 1926 that runs for from Interstate 95 (I-95) just north of Fayetteville, North Carolina to US 1 in the northeastern suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in Morrisville ...
,
SR 10, US 258, and US 17. The last two highways run together with SR 32 on the
James River Bridge
The James River Bridge (JRB) is a four-lane divided highway lift bridge across the James River in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Owned and operated by the Virginia Department of Transportation, it carries U.S. Route 17 (US 17), US 258, ...
.
Route description
SR 32 begins at the North Carolina state line in a rural portion of the city of Suffolk. The border crossing, from which the highway continues south as NC 32 (Virginia Road), is a short distance west of
Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge
The Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge was created in 1974 to help protect and preserve a portion of the Great Dismal Swamp, a marshy region on the Coastal Plain of southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina between Norfolk, ...
and much closer to the North Carolina community of
Corapeake than the developed portion of Suffolk. SR 32 heads north as two-lane undivided Carolina Road, which the highway follows to its intersection with US 13 (Whaleyville Boulevard) next to Suffolk Municipal Airport. SR 32 and US 13 continue north along Carolina Road, now 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 ...
, to a partial interchange with the southwestern end of the Suffolk Bypass. US 13 exits onto the bypass toward a junction 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 ...
while
US 13 Business joins SR 32 as Carolina Road reduces to a five-lane road with a
center left-turn lane
A reversible lane (British English: tidal flow) is a lane in which traffic may travel in either direction, depending on certain conditions. Typically, it is meant to improve traffic flow during rush hours, by having overhead traffic lights and li ...
. The two highways reduce to a four-lane undivided highway as they intersect a
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 ...
's
Franklin District
Franklin District was a New Zealand territorial authority that lay between the Auckland metropolitan area and the Waikato Plains. As a formal territory it was abolished on 31 October 2010 and divided between Auckland Council in the Auckland Reg ...
south of downtown Suffolk. SR 32 and US 13 Business cross over Norfolk Southern Railway's
Norfolk District
Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North ...
at the southern edge of downtown Suffolk.
At their intersection with
SR 337 (Washington Street), SR 10 begins and joins SR 32 and US 13 Business north as Main Street through downtown Suffolk. The highways intersect
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
Portsmouth Subdivision
The Portsmouth Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in Virginia and North Carolina. The line connects CSX's network with the port city of Portsmouth, Virginia. The Portsmouth Subdivision was historically operated by the Seab ...
railroad line before reaching
US 58 Business (Constance Road), where US 13 Business turns east and
US 460 Business joins SR 32 and SR 10. The three highways cross the
Nansemond River
The Nansemond River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 tributary of the James River in Virginia in the United States. Virginian colonists named the river ...
and pass through a commercial area as a five-lane road with a center left-turn lane. In the community of Elephant Fork, US 460 Business splits northwest as Pruden Boulevard while SR 32 and SR 10 continue north on Godwin Boulevard. The state highways expand to a four-lane divided highway just south of their
partial cloverleaf interchange
A partial cloverleaf interchange or parclo is a modification of a cloverleaf interchange.
The design has been well received, and has since become one of the most popular freeway-to-arterial interchange designs in North America. It has also bee ...
with the Suffolk Bypass, which carries US 13, US 58, and
US 460
U.S. Route 460 (US 460) is a spur route of U.S. Route 60. It currently runs for 655 miles (1,054 km) from Norfolk, Virginia, at its parent route U.S. Route 60 at Ocean View to Frankfort, Kentucky, intersecting its parent route once ...
around the north side of Suffolk. SR 32 and SR 10 pass Sentara Obici Memorial Hospital and through a commercial area before entering farmland. The two highways reduce to a two-lane undivided road just before crossing the Western Branch of the Nansemond River.
SR 32 and SR 10 intersect
SR 125 (Kings Highway) in the community of
Chuckatuck before leaving Suffolk and entering Isle of Wight County, where the highway expands to a four-lane divided highway named Benns Church Boulevard. The two state highways diverge at
Benns Church, where SR 32 joins US 258 on Brewers Neck Boulevard. The two highways head east through
Carrollton to an intersection with US 17 (Carrollton Boulevard). SR 32, US 17, and US 258 head northeast to cross the James River on the James River Bridge.
Just after entering the city of Newport News, the three highways meet
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 ...
(Warwick Boulevard) at a partial cloverleaf interchange. Just east of there, the highways cross over CSX's
Peninsula Subdivision
The Peninsula Extension which created the Peninsula Subdivision of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) was the new railroad line on the Virginia Peninsula from Richmond to southeastern Warwick County. Its principal purpose was to provide an i ...
and SR 32 reaches its eastern terminus at SR 143 (Jefferson Avenue). US 17 turns north onto Jefferson Avenue toward
Yorktown while US 258 continues east on Mercury Boulevard toward
Hampton
Hampton may refer to:
Places Australia
*Hampton bioregion, an IBRA biogeographic region in Western Australia
*Hampton, New South Wales
*Hampton, Queensland, a town in the Toowoomba Region
* Hampton, Victoria
Canada
* Hampton, New Brunswick
*Ha ...
.
Major intersections
References
External links
Virginia Highways Project: VA 32
{{Authority control
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