Sunday, February 9, 2014

The 2013 Hampton Roads Bad Signage & Williamsburg Trip, Part V: Now With Actual Williamsburg

VA 143 enters Newport News, where it spends over half of its existence.


More horizontal signals!


VA 143 is now on Jefferson Avenue, which is pretty much 20 miles of traffic lights, with only one slight curve the whole way.


Charlie Chan's.


Meeting back up with US 258. US 17 also joins VA 143 here, although it isn't posted as continuing north/westbound.


Jefferson moves more and more upscale as it heads northwest.


Meeting I-64 and lots of traffic.


I really like the old-style shields Newport News uses.


It's temporary, but still hideous. VA 105 connects to Fort Eustis.


This is where VA 143's original purpose begins to show, in the northwesternmost point of Newport News. It was created (as VA 168) as a surface-level bypass of US 60 before the Interstate system was conceived. Between VA 105 and Williamsburg, it runs parallel to I-64 and US 60 without much access. Here I'm looking southwest at I-64, between VA 105 and 238.


The speed limit goes up to 55 after VA 238. For comparison, the fastest speed limit on US 60 east of Williamsburg is 45.


Entering James City County, whereupon VA 143 becomes Merrimac Trail and uses that name for the rest of its route.


Without much of anything noteworthy, VA 143 enters York County. There was an offramp of I-64 and one access road from Naval Weapons Station Yorktown, but that's it. Very little traffic, too.


It gets a bit busier in York County, and straddles the border between James City and York once or twice more.


I left VA 143 for VA 162. I covered VA 143's last few miles back in the 2012 trip.


From VA 162, I headed for the Colonial Parkway via old VA 163, Parkway Drive. VA 163 was decommissioned in 1994, at the same time VA 162 was truncated to its hilariously short length.


The Colonial Parkway.


I departed the Parkway at the VA 132/199 exit and took VA 199 west to VA 5 to head home.


So that's it. It took me well over a month to post this trip, but I haven't taken one since, due to preparation for my project car later this year. The next one will probably be another Hampton Roads excursion for the planned road meet there in March.

The 2013 Hampton Roads Bad Signage & Williamsburg Trip, Part 4: Hampton, Briefly

I departed I-64 at the first exit past the tunnel, VA 169, in the Phoebus section of Hampton. US 60 departs the interstate at the next exit. Trucks trying to get to VA 143 are advised to follow VA 169 to reach it from I-64 instead of 143 directly. You'll see why later.


VA 143 isn't far up VA 169.


Phoebus has horizontal traffic signals.


VA 143 (as well as US 258) ends at Fort Monroe, a decommissioned Army base. From 2001 to 2011, the fort was closed to the public, but today it can be freely visited.


The Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel is in the background.


VA 143 begins to the left and US 258 to the right. They meet again in Newport News.


The first VA 143 reassurance shield. VA 143 is mostly a renumbering of VA 168, which was once entirely on the northern side of Hampton Roads. Over time VA 168 was moved onto I-64 between the HRBT and what is now VA 30. It continued north to the current VA 30-33-249 intersection in New Kent County until 1980.


VA 143 in Phoebus is Mellen Street, until the first of many street changes.


Back at VA 169. VA 143 used to turn with it to the next block but now does it on its own.


Quick turns.


US 60 joins VA 143 into downtown Hampton.


Meeting VA 134.


In the Kecoughtan area.


This used to be VA 167.


VA 143 is on Victoria Boulevard through the rest of its trip through Hampton.