End of US highway 460

Note: since I don't have access to a comprehensive collection of historical road atlases, much of the info on this page is based on the research of Robert Droz; click here to view his site. Photo credits: H.B. Elkins; Alex Nitzman; Mike Roberson; me

US 460 was commissioned in 1934. Its east end has always been in the Hampton Roads area, but not at the same intersection where it ends today. Initially it came north on Pleasure House Road and ended at US 60 (Shore Drive):

Google Maps Street View, 2008

Today this is within Virginia Beach city limits. The shot below is looking east on US 60:

Google Maps Street View, 2008

Originally US 460 began to the right, on what is now designated VA hwy. 651. At the time US 460 was an intra-state route, with its west terminus at Roanoke VA. My understanding is US 460 was routed into Roanoke along what had been VA hwy. 10. I've seen a 1929 map showing VA 10 coming in on Dale Avenue, jogging north a block on 4th Street SE, west again on Tazewell Avenue and Franklin Road, then north on 2nd Street SW, ending at Campbell Avenue (US 11). So I'll assume that's where US 460 ended as well. The postcard below is a colorized photo looking east on Campbell:

c. 1940

US 460 would've come in from the right on 2nd, ending with the Ponce de Leon Hotel filling the windshield. The Art Deco version of that building (pictured above) was completed just a few years before US 460 was commissioned. (Occupying that space prior was the original Ponce, which was even more elaborate, but which burned in the final days of 1930. However, that particular building was not seen by US 460 travellers.)

In 1943 the east end of US 460 was changed such that it ended in downtown Norfolk:

Google Maps Street View, 2008

That's looking east on Brambleton Avenue. US 460 ended at the traffic signal, which is Monticello Avenue.

In 1947 the west end of US 460 was extended to downtown St. Louis: just over the Mississippi, via the MacArthur Bridge, ending at offramps to 7th Street and Chouteau Avenue. That bridge is now closed to automobile traffic, and the offramps have been dismantled, so there's not much left to see from the ground. But you can get a pretty good aerial view from the top of the Gateway Arch, if you know where to look. The photo below was taken looking south from one of the east windows:

me, July 2007

That's the Mississippi River; the Illinois shore is visible at upper left. The closest bridge is known to locals as the Poplar Street Bridge, but that can be a little confusing to visitors, because it's more than just a "street"... it may align with Poplar, but now it carries I-55/I-64/I-70. The bridge behind that is the MacArthur. The upper deck was once used by US 460 traffic - it's closed now, but the lower deck is still used by trains. On the Missouri side landing, the railroad and the old highway diverge, as you can see in the shot below:

me, July 2007

That's also looking south, but from one of the west side windows. Running across the bottom of the photo is the rail line that connects to the MacArthur Bridge. Just above that at far left, you can see an elevated roadway with two white modulars sitting on it. That used to carry highway traffic to MacArthur (off the left edge of the photo). To the right of the modulars, there used to be a bridge carrying traffic over 7th Street, connecting with the curved road in the grassy area on the far side of 7th. That curve ends at Chouteau, and that was the west end of US 460.

In 1958 the east end of US 460 was moved to its current location in Norfolk. The photo below is looking north on Granby Street, at its junction with Ocean View Avenue (US 60):

me, Oct. 1999

By 2001 the signage had changed a bit. Note the two brown signs in the middleground above - looks like the "End" assembly was moved to that pole:

Nitzman, 2001

Below was the east beginning of US 460, as seen from westbound US 60...

Nitzman, 2001

...however, the "East" tab was a mistake, and that assembly was fixed not long after that photo was taken:

Google Maps Street View, 2008

Both shots were taken looking west on Ocean View; southbound Granby begins to the left, and that's the beginning of US 460 as well. The photo below is looking the opposite direction:

Google Maps Street View, 2008

US 460 begins to the right on Granby.

In 1977 the west end of US 460 was truncated to its current terminus in Frankfort KY:

me, Feb. 2007

That's looking west on Main Street, where US 460 ends at Versailles Road, which is where it junctions with its parent route (US 60). The photo below is looking the opposite direction on Main, heading east out of downtown:

Elkins, May 2000

US 60 is routed southward on Versailles - but if one continues straight, they find themselves on Georgetown Road, at the west beginning of US 460. Below we're looking north on Versailles (wb US 60 and nb US 421):

me, Feb. 2007

The west beginning of US 460 is to the right.