State Route 65 (SR 65), formerly State Route 66 (SR 66), is a primary
state highway 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
U.S. Route 23
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U.S. Route 23 or U.S. Highway 23 (US 23) is a major north–south U.S. Highway between Jacksonville, Florida, and Mackinaw City, Michigan. It is an original 1926 route which originally reached only as far south as Portsmouth, Ohio, and has sinc ...
(US 23),
US 58, and
US 421
U.S. Route 421 (also U.S. Highway 421, US 421) is a diagonal northwest–southeast United States Numbered Highway in the states of North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky, and Indiana. The highway runs for from Fort Fisher, North Caro ...
in
Clinchport north to
US 58 Alternate in
Castlewood.
Route description
SR 65 begins at an intersection with US 23, US 58, and US 421 (Orby Cantrell Highway) just west of the town limit of Clinchport. The state highway heads northeast through the town as 2nd Avenue, which passes under
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
Kingsport Subdivision
The Kingsport Subdivision (also KP Subdivision) is a 133.2-mile (214.4 km) railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation in the U.S. states of Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee. It was formerly part of the Huntington West Division. It bec ...
. SR 65 becomes Clinch River Highway east of town and parallels the
Clinch River
The Clinch River is a river that flows southwest for more than through the Great Appalachian Valley in the U.S. states of Virginia and Tennessee, gathering various tributaries, including the Powell River, before joining the Tennessee River in Ki ...
and
Norfolk Southern Railway's
Clinch Valley Division
Clinch may refer to:
* Nail (fastener) or device to hold in this way
* Clinching, in metalworking
* Clinch fighting or the clinch, a grappling position in boxing or wrestling, a stand-up embrace
* Clinch County, Georgia, USA
* Clinch River, near T ...
northeast to
Fort Blackmore, where the highway begins to
run concurrently with
SR 72 (Veterans Memorial Highway) to the town of
Dungannon. Within the town, SR 72 continues north parallel to the railroad and the Clinch River as Hanging Rock Parkway while SR 65 crosses the river and heads east as Sinking Creek Highway, which follows
Sinking Creek across the
Scott–
Russell county line. The state highway, now named Mew Road, passes through the hamlet of Mew while passing through a broad valley on its way to its northern terminus at US 58 Alternate (Castlewood Road) at Banners Corner in the
unincorporated area
An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...
of Castlewood.
History
SR 65 was designated in March 1958 as a result of the renumbering of the former SR 66 between Clinchport and Castlewood. SR 66 was renumbered due to the impending construction of
Interstate 66
Interstate 66 (I-66) is an east–west Interstate Highway in the eastern United States. It runs from an interchange with I-81 near Middletown, Virginia, on its western end to an interchange with U.S. Route 29 (US 29) in Washing ...
in the northern part of the state; the
Commonwealth Transportation Board The Commonwealth Transportation Board, formerly the State Highway and Transportation Board, regulates and funds transportation in Virginia. It oversees the Virginia Department of Transportation.
Membership
The Board consists of seventeen members:
* ...
recommended that all routes that shared a number with a proposed Interstate be renumbered.
No major routing changes have occurred to the route since its designation.
Major intersections
References
External links
Virginia Highways Project: VA 65
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State Route 065
State Route 065