Kings Highway Bridge | |
---|---|
Coordinates | 36°50′N76°33′W / 36.84°N 76.55°W |
Carries | Kings Highway |
Crosses | Nansemond River |
Locale | Suffolk, Virginia, United States |
Named for | Kings Highway |
History | |
Opened | 1928 |
Closed | March 2005 |
Statistics | |
Daily traffic | 3,300 motorists a day |
Location | |
Kings Highway Bridge was located on the Nansemond River in the independent city of Suffolk, Virginia, United States. Built in 1928, it carried traffic on the Kings Highway, also known as State Route 125, for over 75 years.
The drawbridge was deemed unsafe and closed to traffic in March 2005 by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT). In March 2007, VDOT announced that the bridge would be demolished and removed, with no plans for replacement, [1] and demolition began in June. [2] In 2008, several boats struck debris from the old bridge. [3] [4]
About 3,300 motorists a day used the bridge that connected Chuckatuck and Driver. Now, they face detours of as much as 19 miles. The cost of a new bridge for the King's Highway crossing was estimated at $48 million in 2006, far more than could be recovered through collection of tolls at that location. [5]
In October 2021, the Suffolk City Council unanimously made a resolution requesting that the Virginia Department of Transportation build a new King's Highway Bridge. [6] The city had studied a number of options, including building the new bridge at the same location or at Five Mile Road. Ultimately, they decided to support the construction of the new bridge at Five Mile Road, less than a mile south of the previous location.
Interstate 66 (I-66) is an east–west Interstate Highway in the eastern United States. The highway runs from an interchange with I-81 near Middletown, Virginia, on its western end to an interchange with U.S. Route 29 (US 29) in Washington, D.C., at the eastern terminus. Much of the route parallels US 29 or State Route 55 (SR 55) in Virginia. I-66 has no physical or historical connection to the famous US 66, which was located in a different region of the United States.
The Elizabeth River is a 6-mile-long (10 km) tidal estuary forming an arm of Hampton Roads harbor at the southern end of Chesapeake Bay in southeast Virginia in the United States. It is located along the southern side of the mouth of the James River, between the cities of Portsmouth, Norfolk, and Chesapeake. Forming the core of the Hampton Roads harbor, it is heavily supported by its tributaries which depend upon it.
Suffolk is an independent city in Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 94,324. It is the 10th-most populous city in Virginia, the largest city in Virginia by boundary land area as well as the 14th-largest in the country.
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The state highway system of the U.S. state of Virginia is a network of roads maintained by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT). As of 2006, the VDOT maintains 57,867 miles (93,128 km) of state highways, making it the third-largest system in the United States.
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The Gilmerton Bridge, originally a twin bascule drawbridge, is now a vertical-lift bridge which spans the Southern Branch Elizabeth River in the City of Chesapeake in South Hampton Roads in southeastern Virginia. Completed in 1938, it carries U.S. Route 13 and US 460 and is part of Military Highway. The Gilmerton Bridge is operated by the City of Chesapeake.
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State Route 125 is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of Virginia. Known as Kings Highway, the state highway has two sections that run a total of 5.73 miles (9.22 km) from SR 10 and SR 32 at Chuckatuck east to SR 337 at Driver within the independent city of Suffolk. SR 125 consists of a 2.69-mile (4.33 km) western section and a 3.04-mile (4.89 km) eastern section separated by a gap at the Nansemond River. This gap arose when the Kings Highway Bridge across the river was removed in 2008.
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Driver is a neighborhood in the independent city of Suffolk, Virginia, United States. It is located at the junction of State Route 337, State Route 125, and State Route 627.
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