State Route 195 (SR 195) 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 are ...

. Known as the Downtown Expressway, the state highway runs from Interstate 195 (I-195) east to

I-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 Canadia ...

within the

independent city An independent city or independent town is a city or town that does not form part of another general-purpose local government entity (such as a province). Historical precursors In the Holy Roman Empire, and to a degree in its successor states ...

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, Californi ...

. SR 195 is a toll freeway that connects the West End of Richmond with

Downtown Richmond Downtown Richmond is the central business district of Richmond, Virginia. It is generally defined as being bound by Belvidere Street to the west, I-95 to the north and east, and the James River to the south. The Fan district borders it to the ...

. In conjunction with another toll road, SR 76, the state highway also connects the

Southside Southside or South Side may refer to: Places Australia * Southside, Queensland, a semi-rural locality in the Gympie Region Canada * South Side, Newfoundland and Labrador, a community in the St. George's Bay area on the southwest coast of Newf ...

suburbs of the metropolitan area with downtown. SR 195 has a mainline barrier toll plaza and ramp toll plazas at its interchanges with

U.S. Route 1 U.S. Route 1 or U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that serves the East Coast of the United States. It runs from Key West, Florida, north to Fort Kent, Maine, at the Canadian border, making ...

and

US 301 U.S. Route 301 (US 301) is a spur of U.S. Route 1 running through the South Atlantic States. It runs from Biddles Corner, Delaware at Delaware Route 1 to Sarasota, Florida at U.S. Route 41. It passes through the states of Delaware, Mar ...

and with

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 ...

, all of which accept

E-ZPass E-ZPass is an electronic toll collection system used on toll roads, toll bridges, and toll tunnels in the Eastern United States, Midwestern United States, and Southern United States. The E-ZPass Interagency Group (IAG) consists of member agenci ...

. The state highway was constructed in the mid- to late 1970s and is maintained by the

Richmond Metropolitan Authority The Richmond Metropolitan Transportation Authority is an independent authority and political subdivision which serves the Richmond, Virginia metropolitan area. Created by an act of the Virginia General Assembly in 1966, then called the Richmond Met ...

Route description

SR 195 begins as a continuation of I-195, an Interstate Highway that connects SR 195 and SR 76 with I-95 and

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 interchang ...

at the northern edge of the city of Richmond. The transition between the Interstate and the state-numbered highway occurs just east of the McCloy Street overpass south of the Carytown district of Richmond. Four-lane SR 195 passes under Idlewood Avenue and has a partial interchange with SR 146, which comprises extended ramps between SR 195 and SR 76 (Powhite Parkway). The freeway expands to six lanes at its interchange with SR 146 which, like its interchange with SR 161 (Boulevard) immediately to the east, allows access to and from the direction of Downtown Richmond. SR 195 is paralleled by Grayland Avenue to the south and Parkwood Avenue to the north and has another partial interchange with Meadow Street before reaching the 12-lane Downtown Expressway Toll Plaza. SR 195 has an eastbound exit and westbound entrance for US 1 and US 301 (Belvidere Street); the ramps merge to and from Idlewood Avenue and Cumberland Street, 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. Descript ...

that parallels the south and north sides, respectively, of the freeway and connect the ramps with the U.S. Highways. At the Belvidere Street overpass, SR 195 curves southeast and drops to four lanes at an eastbound exit and westbound entrance for a new pair of paralleling streets, Byrd Street to the south and Canal Street to the north, that connect with 2nd Street. Underneath 2nd Street, there is a westbound exit and eastbound entrance to the paralleling streets that connect US 1 and US 301 with the freeway toward Downtown Richmond; both ramps have a ramp toll plaza. SR 195 passes under Kanawha Plaza in a pair of tunnels. On either end of the tunnel, there are half-diamond interchanges that connect with US 60 (9th Street); the half-interchange over 11th Street east of the tunnels has ramp toll plaza. There is also an entrance ramp westbound from Canal Street and 12th Street. East of 12th Street, SR 195 ascends onto a two-level viaduct—eastbound on the upper level and westbound on the lower level—east to its directional interchange with I-95 (Richmond–Petersburg Turnpike) at the north end of

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, ...

just east of the railroad

Triple Crossing Triple Crossing in Richmond, Virginia is one of two places in North America where three Class I railroads cross at different levels at the same spot, the other being Santa Fe Junction in Kansas City. At the lowest (ground) level, the original ...

at the southeastern corner of Downtown Richmond.

Tolls

, the toll rate for automobiles at the Downtown Expressway Toll Plaza is 70 cents. Toll rates for the 2nd Street (US 1 and US 301) and 11th Street (US 60) ramps are 35 cents and 30 cents, respectively. All toll plazas accept

History

The first section of SR 195 opened from I-195 to 7th Street in February 1976. The remainder of the toll road and its ramps to I-95 in the direction of

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

were completed in August 1976. The ramps between SR 195 and I-95 in the direction of Petersburg opened in September 1976.

Criticism

The Downtown Expressway has been criticized for a lack of urban sensitivity ever since the project was proposed in the early 1970s. Its construction destroyed hundreds of homes in

Oregon Hill Oregon Hill is a historic working-class neighborhood in Richmond, Virginia. Oregon Hill overlooks the James River and Belle Isle, and provides access to Hollywood Cemetery. Due to the neighborhood's proximity to the Monroe Park Campus of Virg ...

among other neighborhoods like the Historically Black neighborhood of Randolph , and cuts off pedestrian traffic to the river front. The lack of mixed use urban activation along the downtown Richmond riverfront and surrounding the highway in general has been linked to the expressway. Some have even suggested a renovation in the manner of San Francisco's Embarcadero or Boston's

Big Dig The Central Artery/Tunnel Project (CA/T Project), commonly known as the Big Dig, was a megaproject in Boston that rerouted the Central Artery of Interstate 93 (I-93), the chief highway through the heart of the city, into the 1.5-mile (2.4&n ...

Exit list

References

External links

{{Attached KML, display=title,inline
Virginia Highways Project: VA 195
195 State Route 195 State Route 195 Freeways in the United States