State Route 288 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 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 sov ...

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 are ...

. It is a

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 i ...

-standard partial

beltway A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop, bypass or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city, or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist i ...

around the southwest side of the

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

metropolitan area in portions of Goochland,

Powhatan The Powhatan people (; also spelled Powatan) may refer to any of the indigenous Algonquian people that are traditionally from eastern Virginia. All of the Powhatan groups descend from the Powhatan Confederacy. In some instances, The Powhata ...

, and Chesterfield counties. SR 288 was officially dedicated as the World War II Veterans Memorial Highway in 2004.

Route description

SR 288 may be thought of as the southwestern portion of an "outer beltway" of Richmond, although there is no such roadway formally designated. The route begins at

Interstate 95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the Canad ...

north of

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

, and extends northwesterly through Chesterfield County and

Powhatan County Powhatan County () is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 30,033. Its county seat is Powhatan. Powhatan County is included in the Greater Richmond Region. The James River forms the cou ...

. It crosses 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 Chesape ...

on the World War II Veterans Memorial Bridge into Goochland County in Richmond's Far West End area, where it terminates at

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 ...

near Short Pump, near the northern terminus of Interstate 295. The highway has been built entirely to

Interstate standards Standards for Interstate Highways in the United States are defined by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) in the publication ''A Policy on Design Standards: Interstate System''. For a certain highway t ...

History

In 1968,

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

passed the

Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1968 The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1968 (Public Law 90-495; 82 Stat. 815) is legislation enacted by the United States Congress and signed into law on August 24, 1968, which expanded the Interstate Highway System by ; provided funding for new interstat ...

, which expanded the

Interstate Highway System The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. Th ...

by . 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: * ...

(CTB) resolved in its August 1968 meeting to apply to the

American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) is a standards setting body which publishes specifications, test protocols, and guidelines that are used in highway design and construction throughout the United S ...

(AASHTO) for approval of five new stretches of Interstate. Three of these – the future

I-195 Interstate 195 (I-195) is the designation for the following Interstate Highways in the United States, all of which are related to I-95: *Interstate 195 (District of Columbia), a future designation for the north–south portion of I-395 from the Sout ...

and I-664 plus an expansion of the Berkley Bridge on

I-264 Interstate 264 is the designation for two Interstate Highways in the United States, both of which are related to Interstate 64: *Interstate 264 (Kentucky), a bypass of Louisville, Kentucky *Interstate 264 (Virginia) Interstate 264 (I-264) i ...

– were submitted and approved. The other two presumably received no further action because they are not in AASHTO's records; these are today SR 288 and SR 164. Sections of the road were built over a period of more than 15 years. During that time, the planned routing of the northern portion was changed substantially, and not without some conflict within the communities. The 17.4-mile-long southern portion of SR 288 in Chesterfield County (from

to State Route 76 near

Midlothian Midlothian (; gd, Meadhan Lodainn) is a historic county, registration county, lieutenancy area and one of 32 council areas of Scotland used for local government. Midlothian lies in the east-central Lowlands, bordering the City of Edinburgh, ...

) was completed in 1989. Initially, the highway was planned to continue north and west of this temporary terminus to connect with

at Interstate 295, creating a seamless straight connection between SR 288 and I-295. This would have formed a partial

(I-295 north of I-64 and east of I-95, and SR 288 in the southwest quadrant). Virginia Department of Highways
Final Environmental/Section 4(f) Statement Administrative Action for Interstate Route 295
/ref> However, this planned corridor and a river crossing into

Henrico County Henrico County , officially the County of Henrico, is located in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 334,389 making it the fifth-most populous county in Virginia. Henrico County is inc ...

west of Richmond was abandoned in 1988. This was due to a peculiarity in the varying powers and abilities of local governments to control growth and preserve rights-of-way resultant from the Byrd Road Act of 1932. While Henrico County had been able to preserve its corridor, there had been development of residential neighborhoods and homes along and within the intended path in Chesterfield County during the years after initial planning. Despite opposition by both Henrico County and the City of Richmond, a more westerly alignment north of SR 76 was selected. Much of the planned section in Henrico County became the John Rolfe Parkway corridor there. Instead, a more westerly alignment was selected through

and Goochland Counties, causing a break in what would have been a continuous loop between SR 288 and I-295 at their northern juncture. In 2004, construction of this "western alignment" as it became known was completed, including a new crossing of the

known as the World War II Veterans Memorial Bridge. Henrico County was able to preserve its planned corridor for Route 288 from development while Chesterfield County was not. This was partially because Henrico and

Arlington County Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county is ...

are the only two counties in Virginia which control and maintain their own secondary highways and streets. VDOT handles this for Chesterfield and all other counties, but has little control of residential development.

Exit list

References

External links

{{Attached KML, display=title,inline
Virginia Highways Project: VA 288

288 Year 288 ( CCLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Maximian and Ianuarianus (or, less frequently, year 1041 ...

State Route 288 State Route 288 State Route 288 Freeways in the United States

Route description

History

Exit list

See also

References

External links