Virginia State Route 31

Last updated • 3 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
Virginia 31.svg
State Route 31
VA 31 map.svg
Route information
Maintained by Virginia DOT
Length24.56 mi [1] [2] [3]  (39.53 km)
ExistedJuly 1, 1933 [4] –present
Major junctions
South endUS 460.svgCircle sign 628.svg US 460  / SR 628 in Wakefield
Major intersectionsVirginia 10.svg SR 10 in Surry
North endVirginia 5.svgVirginia 199.svg SR 5  / SR 199 in Williamsburg
Location
Country United States
State Virginia
Counties Sussex, Surry, James City, City of Williamsburg
Highway system
Virginia 30.svg SR 30 Virginia 32.svg SR 32

State Route 31 (SR 31) is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of Virginia. The state highway runs 24.56 miles (39.53 km) from U.S. Route 460 (US 460) in Wakefield north to SR 5 and SR 199 in Williamsburg. SR 31 is the primary northsouth highway of Surry County, where the highway serves the towns of Surry and Dendron. The state highway also connects Williamsburg with Jamestown. The sections of SR 31 on either side of the James River are connected by the Jamestown Ferry.

Contents

Route description

View north along SR 31 north of SR 10 in Surry 2017-07-12 17 54 34 View north along Virginia State Route 31 (Rolfe Highway) just north of Virginia State Route 10 (Colonial Trail) in Surry, Surry County, Virginia.jpg
View north along SR 31 north of SR 10 in Surry

SR 31 begins at an intersection with US 460 in the town of Wakefield in Sussex County. The state highway heads east on Main Street, which continues west of US 460 as SR 628. At the eastern town limit, SR 31 veers north onto Birch Island Road. The state highway becomes Rolfe Highway when it enters Surry County right before the highway crosses the Blackwater River. SR 31 heads northeast through town of Dendron and the hamlet of Elberon. The state highway runs concurrently with SR 10 (Colonial Trail) while passing through the town of Surry. North of Surry, SR 31 passes Smith's Fort Plantation before reaching the Scotland terminal of the Jamestown Ferry across the James River. The Jamestown Ferry is the only crossing of the James River between the James River Bridge in Newport News and the Benjamin Harrison Memorial Bridge near Hopewell. [5]

SR 31 resumes at the Jamestown terminal of the ferry at Glass House Point in James City County. The state highway, which heads northeast as Jamestown Road, passes Jamestown Festival Park and has an intersection with SR 359, a short connector between SR 31 and Colonial Parkway. SR 31 leaves Jamestown and crosses over Powhatan Creek and Lake Powell. The state highway passes through the suburban area surrounding Williamsburg before reaching its northern terminus at SR 199 (Humelsine Parkway) just inside the city limits. Jamestown Road continues northeast as SR 5 beyond SR 199; westbound SR 5 joins SR 199 in a short concurrency west toward Richmond. [5]

History

The first piece of the present SR 31 to exist as a state highway ran from Williamsburg southwest to Jamestown. It was a spur of State Route 9 [6] (roughly current U.S. Route 60), and was present in the initial 1918 system. [7] SR 9 was renumbered as State Route 39 in the 1923 renumbering, and the Yorktown spur became State Route 392.

The Jamestown-Scotland Ferry began operations February 26, 1925 from the Jamestown end of SR 392 to Scotland across the James River. [8]

The road on the Scotland side was added to the state highway system from 1926 to 1931, at first as an extension of State Route 351, [9] but soon as part of SR 392. In the 1928 renumbering the route was renumbered State Route 510.

Capitol Landing Road from Williamsburg to Magruder was added to the state highway system in 1932 [10] [11] as State Route 542. [12] Later that year, both SR 510 and SR 524 became State Route 31, connected by Francis Street in Williamsburg (U.S. Route 60, formerly State Route 39).

Major intersections

CountyLocationmi [1] [2] [3] kmDestinationsNotes
Sussex Wakefield 0.000.00US 460.svgCircle sign 628.svg US 460 (South County Drive) / SR 628 (West Main Street) Courtland, Suffolk, Waverly Southern terminus
Circle sign 617.svg SR 617 (Rocky Hock Road) Bacons Castle former SR 196 east
Surry 14.6523.58Virginia 10.svg SR 10 west (Colonial Trail West) Hopewell, Richmond South end of concurrency with SR 10
Surry 15.6925.25Virginia 10.svgCircle sign 626.svg SR 10 east (Colonial Trail East) / SR 626 (Oakwood Drive) Suffolk, Smithfield, Chippokes Plantation State Park North end of concurrency with SR 10
James River 20.1032.35Ferry Sign.svg Jamestown-Scotland Ferry
James City Virginia 359.svgCircle sign 614.svg SR 359 (Jamestown Festival Parkway) / SR 614 north (Greensprings Road) Jamestown Settlement, Colonial Parkway, Historic Jamestowne
Circle sign 681.svgTo plate.svg
Virginia 5.svg
SR 681 (Sandy Bay Road) to SR 5 west Dunbar, truck route to SR 615
Circle sign 615.svg SR 615 (Ironbound Road)
City of Williamsburg 24.5639.53Virginia 5.svgVirginia 199.svg SR 5 (Jamestown Road) / SR 199  Downtown Williamsburg, William & Mary Hall, Colonial Williamsburg Visitor Center via Parkway, Busch Gardens Northern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

Related Research Articles

Surry County, Virginia County in Virginia, United States

Surry County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 6,561.

Jamestown Ferry

The Jamestown Ferry is a free automobile and bus ferry service across a navigable portion of the James River in Virginia. It carries State Route 31, connecting Jamestown in James City County with Scotland Wharf in Surry County.

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Scotland, Virginia Census-designated place in Virginia, United States

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Virginia State Route 114

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U.S. Route 460 in Virginia State highway in Virginia

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Virginia State Route 13

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State Route 199 is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of Virginia. Known for most of its length as Humelsine Parkway, the state highway runs 14.13 miles (22.74 km) from Interstate 64 (I-64) and SR 646 in Lightfoot to SR 641 near Williamsburg. VA 199 forms a western loop of Williamsburg in York and James City Counties. The state highway, which is entirely a four-lane limited-access highway with a mix of intersections and interchanges, provides access from I-64 to several highways that serve attractions around Williamsburg, including U.S. Route 60 and Colonial Parkway, an automobile parkway that leads to Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown, and Yorktown. VA 199 between its junctions with I-64 is named for Carlisle H. Humelsine, a former curator and president of Colonial Williamsburg, in 2004.

References

  1. 1 2 "Daily Traffic Volume Estimates Jurisdiction Report: Sussex County" (PDF). Virginia Department of Transportation. 2009. Retrieved 2011-07-09.
  2. 1 2 "Daily Traffic Volume Estimates Jurisdiction Report: Surry County" (PDF). Virginia Department of Transportation. 2009. Retrieved 2011-07-09.
  3. 1 2 "Daily Traffic Volume Estimates Jurisdiction Report: James City County" (PDF). Virginia Department of Transportation. 2009. Retrieved 2011-07-09.
  4. "New Numbers of Va. Highways Effective July 1". The Richmond Times-Dispatch. May 10, 1933. p. 5. Retrieved January 21, 2020 via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  5. 1 2 Google (2011-07-09). "Virginia State Route 31" (Map). Google Maps . Google. Retrieved 2011-07-09.
  6. "Minutes of Special Meetings of the State Highway Commission held in Culpeper, Amelia, and Richmond, Virginia, May 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14, 1920" (PDF). (103 KB), page 6
  7. "Minutes of the First Meeting of the State Highway Commission Created Under the Acts of 1922, Held July 5th, 1922, Richmond, Va" (PDF). (150 KB), Proposed "State Highway System" for Virginia, as Recommended by the State Roads Committee, January, 1918
  8. VDOT: Jamestown-Scotland Ferry
  9. "Minutes of a Special Meeting Held by the State Highway Commission at Roanoke, and Richmond, Virginia, May 5, and 7, 1926" (PDF). (237 KB), pages 19 and 22
  10. "Minutes of the Meeting of the State Highway Commission of Virginia, Held in Marion, May 25, 1932" (PDF). (149 KB), page 10
  11. "Minutes of the Meeting of the State Highway Commission of Virginia, Held in Richmond, June 10, 1932" (PDF). (212 KB), page 15
  12. "Minutes of the Meeting of the State Highway Commission of Virginia, Held in Richmond, June 10, 1932" (PDF). (212 KB), page 6

Route map:

KML file (edithelp)
    KML is from Wikidata
    <  SR 391 Spurs of   SR 39
    1923–1928
    SR 393  >
    <  SR 509 District 5 State Routes
    1928–1933
    SR 511  >
    <  SR 541 District 5 State Routes
    1928–1933
    none