Two US routes (US 33 and US 250) have ended in Richmond since the 1930s.
In 1935, US 250 replaced what had been VA 5 (and before that, VA 41) using
Broad Street westward out of Richmond. A few years later, US 33 was extended
into Richmond via Staples Mill Road. US 33 has never ended at its junction
with US 250 (i.e. the intersection of Staples Mill and Broad); rather,
the two routes have always been co-signed east on Broad into downtown.
This is not commonly understood, partially because most maps are not at
a large enough scale to label the duplex. Compounding the confusion is
the fact that much of the surface highway signage in Richmond is dismal:
highways are signed incorrectly in many places, or simply not signed at
all. So the question, "Where exactly do US 33 and US 250 end?"
has a somewhat elusive answer... and the answer has changed over the years.
We'll start at the beginning...
In 1935, southbound US 1 traffic was being directed off Chamberlayne
Avenue onto Lombardy Street, then east on Broad, then south on Belvidere
Street, crossing the James River via the Robert E. Lee Bridge. US 60 came
from the east via Broad, then south on 2nd Street, which joins Belvidere
just north of the Lee Bridge, so the two were duplexed across the river.
US 250 (and three years later, US 33 as well) came from the west on Broad
and junctioned with US 1 at Lombardy. The three were most likely co-signed
between there and Belvidere, but then US 33/250 continued on their own
again to 2nd, where they would've ended at their junction with US 60:
Google Maps Street View, 2008
That's looking east on Broad. US 33/250 ended here - eastbound US 60
was straight ahead, and westbound was to the right on 2nd. (Note the tall
building visible there - we'll see that again below.) This next photo
is looking north on 2nd:
Google Maps Street View, 2008
That was eastbound US 60, which continued to the right on Broad. To the
left was the east beginning of US 33/250. This was the case for nearly
40 years (although during the 1950s US 60 was converted to one-ways and
altered three times, potentially changing the technical endpoint one block
to the east and/or west on Broad. But by the end of that decade, the endpoint
was back to 2nd and Broad, as explicitly defined in the CTB [Commonwealth
Transportation Board] minutes of Sep. 1959.)
In 1974, westbound US 60 was rerouted off Broad by turning south on 21st
Street, then continuing west on Main Street. In other words, US 60 was
removed from Broad between 2nd and 21st, so US 33/250 was extended east
on Broad, presumably to fill in "the gap". Strangely though, the gap was
not entirely filled: US 33/250 was extended only to its junction with
US 360 at 18th Street, so the three blocks of Broad between 18th and 21st
(US 60) had no US route designation. We'll see photos from that terminus
later on, below.
At this point, I need to make a quick note about VA hwy. 33: it was commissioned
in 1938 to run from Richmond eastward to Stingray Point (on Chesapeake
Bay just east of Deltaville). That was the same year US 33 was extended
into Richmond, and the state highway number was obviously intended to
be viewed as an extension of US 33. I don't know why the whole thing out
to Stingray Point wasn't just designated as US 33 - that would've eliminated
the question of where US 33 becomes VA 33, and as a result there wouldn't
be so many erroneous US 33 signs posted on VA 33 and vice-versa. But as
it stands, US 33 has never officially existed anywhere east of Richmond.
In that city, VA 33 originally ran along Broad, ending wherever US 33
began (at 2nd prior to 1974, and at 18th after that). However, in 1981
VA 33 was rerouted to its current configuration, which uses the MLK Bridge
and Leigh Street to "bypass" Broad. VA 33 connected to Broad on the west
side of downtown, via Harrison and Hancock Streets (which at the time
were a one-way couplet). So it wasn't until 1981 that US 33 and US 250
ended at different locations in Richmond. When that happened, it seems
the general idea was to truncate the US 33 designation back to
the point where VA 33 came in. However, when you look at the specifics
to try and determine exactly where the transition took place, it gets
really messy:
The Dec. 1981 CTB minutes say VA 33 uses Harrison/Hancock to connect
between Leigh and Broad.
But the May 1982 minutes say VA 33 ends on Leigh at Hancock, while
it's US 33 that occupies the Harrison/Hancock couplet.
AASHTO's 1989 route log describes US 33 as "leaving US 250"
(presumably via Harrison/Hancock), then "crossing US 1/301"
(presumably Belvidere), and then ending at "jct. VA 33 (MLK Bridge)".
VDoT's route logs from 2001 and 2003 say US 33 ends on Broad at Harrison,
and that VA 33 ends at US 250 (Broad).
But VDoT traffic logs from the same timeframe say eastbound US 33
ends on Hancock at Leigh, while westbound US 33 begins on Broad at
Harrison.
However, today it's impossible for eastbound US 33 traffic to make
that movement: you can't make a left turn from eastbound Broad to
northbound Hancock because there's a median, and also the block of
Hancock north of Broad is one-way southbound.
Meanwhile, signage is deplorable: there are no US 33 signs on Broad
anywhere east of Boulevard. Signage along Harrison, Hancock, Leigh,
MLK, Mosby Street, Fairmount Avenue, and Nine Mile Road includes US
33 shields randomly interspersed with VA 33 markers all through the
area. Non-interstate signage is the responsibility of the City, not
VDoT, and it's obviously such a low priority in Richmond that it simply
cannot be relied upon to determine actual route descriptions.
With all that in mind, it's impossible to determine the "official"
endpoint of US 33, because official documents disagree. So then
my question becomes, "Given the history, what was most likely the
intended endpoint of US 33 when it was truncated in 1981?"
As I see it, the purpose of VA 33 is to be an extension of US 33,
and therefore its function has always been to connect with US 33
on Broad, and to end at that point. It stands to reason, then, that
when VA 33 was removed from Broad, part of its new route description
would've had to include a means of connecting to US 33 on Broad.
Specifically, it used the Harrison/Hancock couplet. So eastbound
US 33 would've ended on Broad at Hancock, and westbound US 33 would've
begun on Broad at Harrison. The photos below were taken looking
east on Broad:
Mortell, Aug. 2005
That shows the last eastbound reassurance marker,
posted at Boulevard, or VA 161. This next one is about a mile ahead:
Mortell, Aug. 2005
Harrison is the traffic light, and Hancock is the next block beyond
there, so that's about as close as you can come to showing a photo
of the east end of US 33. However, the traffic configuration in
this area has changed since 1981, and it appears VDoT has overlooked
a pretty big problem. As I've said, you can't turn left from eastbound
Broad onto Hancock. Harrison is now a two-way street, but left turns
are not allowed from eastbound Broad onto northbound Harrison either.
So eastbound US 33 no longer connects to eastbound VA 33. What's
the solution? My preference would be to extend the US 33 designation
a few blocks east, ending at jct. US 1/301 (Belvidere). Signage
there should include "TO VA 33" pointing north on Belvidere. VA
33 itself could remain unchanged, although it would no longer share
a common terminus with US 33. Otherwise, VA 33 could be extended
west on Leigh, all the way to Boulevard, and then south to Broad.
Eastbound Broad cannot turn left on Boulevard, but northbound VA
161 traffic is directed north on Sheppard Street (one block to the
west of Boulevard). So US 33 could end there, and VA 33 traffic
could be directed to go north on Sheppard to Boulevard.
What a mess. Now back to US 250, which is only slightly less confusing.
Like US 33, its endpoint also moved in 1981. But whereas US 33 was
truncated, US 250 was extended east from 18th, filling in "the gap"
on Broad between 18th and 21st... well, actually by this time it
was 23rd. You see, eastbound US 60 came north on 21st and
simply turned east on Broad (as expected). But for some reason westbound
US 60 traffic on Broad was directed to first go north on
23rd, then west again via the next block north of Broad (Marshall
Street), and then finally south on 21st. So US 250 was extended
east on Broad to the point where westbound US 60 departed Broad,
at 23rd.
This was the case until 2003. At that time, US 60 was rerouted
such that it no longer runs along any segment of Broad. That means,
unless the description of US 250 was changed as well, it has a "dangling"
end at 23rd... and as of Oct. 2008, that's exactly what VDoT's online
mapping program was still showing:
Hopefully you can see the subtle difference in color between numbered
highways (red) and city streets (pink). Broad is red all the way
to 23rd, implying that's still where US 250 ends. However, the 2003
route log indicates that US 250 was truncated back to its junction
with US 360 (on Broad at 18th again):
Google Maps Street View, 2008
That's looking east on Broad. According to the route log, this is where
eastbound US 250 ends. This is also where US 33/250 ended from 1974-1981.
Westbound US 360 is a block behind the camera (17th), while eastbound
is at the light ahead (18th). The view below is looking the opposite direction
(west on Broad):
Google Maps Street View, 2008
The black car is at the east beginning of US 250 (as well as a former
beginning of US 33). The shot below was taken from northbound 18th:
Google Maps Street View, 2008
US 250 begins to the left on Broad. As you can see, it's not signed at
all at this intersection... in fact, US 250 hasn't been signed anywhere
east of I-95 for years. Speaking of I-95, let's take a look at signage
from there. The photo below is from northbound I-95:
Nitzman, Oct. 2004
Hmm... well, US 33 hasn't come this far east on Broad since 1981. If
you take that offramp, it splits - let's see what signage is there:
Nitzman, June 2003
Now this is really perplexing. On the left, it's true that westbound
Broad is also westbound US 250. However, Broad doesn't pick up US 33 for
another two miles. So a better way to put it might be "WEST US 250 TO
US 33"... but even as it stands, at least it's not completely misleading.
But what about the sign on the right, pointing to eastbound Broad? That
actually leads to southbound 17th, which carries westbound US 360 traffic.
US 33 has never been designated east of US 360. So maybe the intended
reference was to VA 33? But VA 33 doesn't use Broad, and getting to the
real VA 33 involves a fairly complicated series of turns, none of which
are posted in the field. So my best guess is that this sign is based on
pre-1981 routings: it was supposed to have a VA 33 marker, and it hearkens
back to the time when VA 33 began to the east on Broad.
To wrap up, I present the photo below, which I really like because you
can use it to visualize almost all of the Richmond endpoints:
sedgwick, June 2007
That's looking west on Broad from 23rd; the traffic signals just ahead
are at 21st. Westbound US 60 used to come to this point, then turn to
the right here on 23rd, then left on Marshall (ahead again), then another
left on 21st, coming across the photo from right to left. So straight
ahead was the east beginning of US 250 from 1981-2003. At the bottom of
the hill you can see a couple railroad bridges over Broad, and just this
side of those bridges are a couple intersections with traffic lights.
Those are at 17th and 18th Streets, or US 360, which is where US 33/250
began from 1974-1981, and also where US 250 begins now. Further in the
distance, you can see the last tall building on the south (left) side
of Broad. That's the same one I mentioned after the first photo on this
page - it's situated right at 2nd Street, which was the original Richmond
endpoint of US 33/250. Beyond that you can see a huge TV tower - that's
located between Boulevard (VA 161) and I-195. Shortly after crossing Boulevard,
the alignment of Broad changes slightly, such that it passes just to the
right of that tower. And not far beyond that is where US 33 splits off
onto Staples Mill. If you like that photo, I encourage you to view the
original on Panoramio
(from that page, click on the photo for the full-size version).
(Back to main US
33 page, or main
US 250 page)