U.S. Route 29 in Virginia

This article is about the section of U.S. Route 29 in Virginia. For the entire route, seeU.S. Route 29.

U.S. Route 29
29th Infantry Division Memorial Highway
US 29 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained byVDOT
Length	248.0 mi(399.1 km)
Existed	1931–present
Tourist routes	Journey Through Hallowed Ground Byway Virginia Byway
Major junctions
South end	Future I-785/US 29nearReidsville, NC
Major intersections	US 58inDanville US 460nearLynchburg I-64nearCharlottesville US 250in Charlottesville US 33inRuckersville US 522nearCulpeper US 17nearWarrenton US 15inGainesville US 50inFairfax I-66inArlington
North end	US 29inWashington, DC
Location
Country	United States
State	Virginia
Counties	City of Danville,Pittsylvania,Campbell,City of Lynchburg,Amherst,Nelson,Albemarle,City of Charlottesville,Greene,Madison,Culpeper,Fauquier,Prince William,Fairfax,City of Fairfax,City of Falls Church,Arlington
Highway system
United States Numbered Highway System List Special Divided Virginia Routes Interstate US Primary Secondary Byways History HOT lanes
←SR 28 →SR 30
←I-664 SR 785 →SR 895

U.S. Route 29(US 29) is a major north–south route in thecommonwealthofVirginia.It covers 248.0 miles (399.1 km) from theNorth Carolinaborder at the city ofDanvilleto theKey BridgeinWashington DC.US 29 roughly bisects Virginia into eastern and western halves and, along withInterstate 81(I-81) andUS 11in western Virginia andI-85/I-95as well asUS 1farther east, provides one of the major north–south routes through the commonwealth.

Since 1928, when theVirginia General Assemblypassed Senate Bill 64, much of US 29 in Virginia is known as theSeminole Trail.ThroughNorthern Virginia,it is known as theLee Highway,except inFalls Church,where it acts as the east–west divider for city streets and is called North or South Washington Street, andArlington,where it was renamed Langston Boulevard in July 2021 in honor ofJohn Mercer Langston.On April 7, 1993, the Virginia General Assembly officially designated the entire length of US 29 from the North Carolina border to the Potomac River as the "29th Infantry Division Memorial Highway" in honor of the29th Infantry Division,which, along with the1st Infantry Division,formed the spearhead of the U.S. infantry that landed on the morning of June 6, 1944, onOmaha BeachinNormandyas part of theliberation of FranceduringWorld War II.In addition, the name of this highway serves to honor many members of theVirginia Army National Guardwho serve as part of this National Guard Division today. Signs indicating this designation have been placed periodically on both sides of US 29.

For most of its route through Virginia, US 29 has been constructed to be at least four lanes along its route, with the two short exceptions being where the highway passes throughManassas National Battlefield Park,where it is two lanes wide for approximately three miles (4.8 km), and throughFairfaxandArlingtoncounties, where it is sometimes wider. It can also be six and eight lanes in much of northernAlbemarle County.

US 29 in Virginia has 11bypassesaround various cities and towns. These bypasses are around Danville,Chatham,Gretna,Hurt–Altavista,Lynchburg–Madison Heights–Amherst,Lovingston,Charlottesville,Madison,Culpeper,Remington,andWarrenton.In addition,I-66serves for the most part as a bypass ofManassasand alsoFairfaxand Arlington.

Route description

North Carolina to Lynchburg

US 29 entering Virginia from North Carolina

US 29 enters Virginia inDanvillefromNorth Carolina.WhileUS 29 Business(US 29 Bus.) continues into Danville, US 29 joins the Danville Expressway andUS 58around the east side of Danville, enteringPittsylvania Countyand remerging with the business route north of town inBlairs.The interchange where US 29 joins US 58 has ramps that enter North Carolina and ramps that enter Virginia, complete with welcome signs from each state. There is a cloverleaf ramp that dips into North Carolina from Virginia and then crosses the state lines back into Virginia. Along the southeastern quadrant of the Danville Expressway between the North CarolinaUS 360,the route is designated as part ofunsignedState Route 785(SR 785) for 7.39 miles (11.89 km).Createdc. 2000,SR 785 is numbered in contradiction to the conventional system of numbering in the state, where primary routes are numbered less than 600 and secondary routes at or above this number. It is numbered as such because it is part of the plannedI-785,which will run south along US 29 toI-85inGreensboro, North Carolina,and is only one of two routes of this type. The other isSR 895inRichmondfor similar reasons.

Lynchburg to Charlottesville

View north along US 29 atUS 29 Bus.in Lovingston

US 29 then continues north where it has business routes forChatham,Gretna,andHurtwhile bypassing them before enteringCampbell County.

US 29 outside of Gainesville

The next major city isLynchburg.US 29 joins theUS 460bypass andUS 501east of Lynchburg, splitting from them just before enteringAmherst County.US 29 again bypassesMadison HeightsandAmherstas an expressway, entersNelson County,passes the town ofLovingston,and enters intoAlbemarle County.

Charlottesville to Warrenton

For the next few miles of US 29's route north of Lovingston, it enters mountainous terrain in the far western Piedmont close to theBlue Ridge Mountains.Several miles later, the route then continues north toCharlottesville,intersectingI-64and bypassing downtown Charlottesville. US 29 rejoins its congested business route just north of downtown, continuing north as a six-lane road through Charlottesville's business district. Past Charlottesville, it converts back to four lanes and continues throughGreeneandMadisoncounties and then turns northeast towardCulpeper.US 15joins US 29 around Culpeper and heads toWarrenton,enteringNorthern Virginia.

Warrenton to Washington DC

View south along US 29 (Lee Highway) atUS 50(Fairfax Boulevard) andSR 236(Main Street) in Fairfax

US 29/US 15 is joined byUS 17south of Warrenton inFauquier Countyand continues around the town, with US 17 splitting off. US 29/US 15 continues mostly eastward toGainesvillewhere US 15 splits and US 29 intersectsI-66for the first time. US 29 continues intoFairfax County,where it passes along the boundary of the city ofFalls Church,where the road has two different names. The portion of the street running northbound is located in the city of Falls Church is called Washington Boulevard and has differentstreet addressesthan the other side running southbound in Fairfax County, where it is named the Lee Highway. The road continues intoArlington,having intersected I-66 five more times before crossing into Washington DC.

History

US 29 originated in 1931 as a replacement ofUS 170from Danville to Lynchburg. It was then added toSR 18between Lynchburg and Charlottesville and toSR 28between Charlottesville and Culpeper. The route originally ended at US 15 in Culpeper. In 1934, US 29 was extended to run concurrently with US 15 to Warrenton, and withUS 211to Washington DC (US 211 now ends atUS 29 Bus.in Warrenton).

The portion of what is now US 29 from the North Carolina state line to Warrenton was named the Seminole Trail by an act of theVirginia General Assemblyon February 16, 1928. Although it was apparently not part of theNational Auto Trailsinitiative early in the 20th century, the Seminole Trail is believed to have originated as part of an effort to promote the road as a through route toFlorida,home of theNative AmericanSeminoletribe. Many road maps of the 1930s and 1940s list the Seminole Trail on highways in Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia, and ultimately Florida.

In an October 4, 2006, meeting of the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors, theUniversity of Virginiaathletic department and basketball coachDave Leitaosuggested that Seminole Trail in Charlottesville should be renamed Cavalier Way. The board did not act on this suggestion.

Gainesville Interchange

The Gainesville Interchange project took place at the interchange between the Lee Highway (US 29) and I-66 at the junction with Linton Hall Road (SR 619) starting in July 2011, with board planning on it dating back to 2006. The project was worth $230 million (equivalent to $307 million in 2023) and included interchanges at many other heavily traveled roads in the area due to the rapid growth in development inGainesvilleandHaymarket,along with it being a major area drivers departure off of I-66 to travel towards other major cities along the Lee Highway, such as Charlottesville. The reasoning for this inclusion of other interchanges is because of the lack of road development to accommodate the new heavy traffic in the area. The plan included asingle-point urban interchangedesign and bridges over train tracks to ease traffic flow on the Lee Highway onto I-66. The Lee Highway was also widened around the interchange to combat this issue. What was once a two-lane country road is now a four-lane suburban highway. Land was acquired by theVirginia Department of Transportation(VDOT) at the intersection of US 29 and Linton Hall Road/SR 619. The entire project was completed and opened to the general public on July 9, 2015.

Charlottesville Interchange (Rio Road)

The Charlottesville Interchange project took place at the intersection of US 29 and Rio Road/SR 631,with construction starting in mid-2015 and ending in December 2016.Adiamond interchangewas built, with two lanes from each direction of US 29, deemed the "local lanes", exiting from main traffic and meeting Rio Road at a traffic signal. The project cost $69.7 million (equivalent to $86.8 million in 2023).

Lynchburg Interchange

The Lynchburg Interchange project took place at the intersection of US 29/US 460/US 501 and Odd Fellows Road, with construction starting in January 2016 and ending in August 2018. A diamond interchange was constructed at a cost of about $30 million (equivalent to $35.9 million in 2023). The interchange was built to reduce congestion on Candlers Mountain Drive/US 501 and to make access to Mayflower Drive/SR 128easier.As part of the construction,roundaboutswere constructed on Odd Fellows Road at its intersection with Mayflower Drive, west of the interchange, and Top Ridge Road, east of the interchange.

Charlottesville Bypass

A western US 29 bypass around Charlottesville was originally proposed in 1979. Engineering and environmental work on the project began in late 1984, and the location was approved by theCommonwealth Transportation Boardin 1990.

This bridge carried US 29 across theBuffalo Riveruntil its destruction byHurricane Camillein 1969.

Acquisition ofright-of-wayfor the project began in 1991 and continued until 2001. No additional right-of-way has been purchased since then. VDOT owns 36 properties that are currently leased and occupied.

The bypass was projected to be 6.2 miles (10.0 km) long, from the US 250 bypass to current US 29 north of the South ForkRivanna River.It would have been two lanes in each direction with no other exits, to decrease possible interruption of commercial and residential growth in the area.

In 1998, a lawsuit was filed challenging the project, alleging that the environmental impact review of the project violated theNational Environmental Policy Act(NEPA). In 2001, the federal court ruled in favor of VDOT on the suit but required the agency to complete a supplementalenvironmental impact statement(EIS) addressing the road's impacts on the South Fork Rivanna Reservoir and the mitigation to minimize those impacts. That document was completed and accepted by theFederal Highway Administration(FHWA) in 2003.

In 1996, the Charlottesville-Albemarle Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) inserted language into its Transportation Improvement Program that prevented additional funds from being allocated to construction of the Western Bypass. That language was removed by the MPO Policy Board in July 2011.

All activities on the US 29 Charlottesville Bypass project were suspended in March 2014 following notification from the FHWA that a new supplemental EIS would be required before the environmental process could be completed. The new supplemental EIS was required due to the history of litigation and controversy associated with the project.

Future

Charlottesville Interchange (Hydraulic Road)

The Charlottesville City Council voted on May 6, 2018, to add a long-range development plan for a diamond interchange at the intersection of US 29 and Hydraulic Road/SR 743at an estimated cost of $63 million to $80 million (equivalent to $75.3 million to $95.6 million in 2023).

Major intersections

All exits are unnumbered.

County	Location	mi	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
CityofDanville		0.0	0.0		Future I-785/US 29south –Greensboro	Continuation intoNorth Carolina;SR 785begin
		0.1	0.16	–	US 29 Bus.north /US 58west –Danville,Martinsville	South end of US 58 overlap
		0.7	1.1	–	Corning Drive	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		1.3	2.1	–	Elizabeth Street
		3.7	6.0	–	SR 86(South Main Street) –Yanceyville,Chapel Hill
		5.6	9.0	–	SR 737(Goodyear Boulevard)
		6.4	10.3	–	River Park Drive –Dan Daniel Memorial Park
		7.2	11.6	–	US 58east /US 360/US 58 Bus.west (South Boston Road) –Danville,South Boston,Richmond	North end of concurrency with US 58; future northern terminus of I-785;SR 785end
Pittsylvania	​	9.6	15.4	—	SR 41(East Franklin Turnpike) toSR 360–Danville,Halifax
	​	15.4	24.8	—	SR 726toUS 29 Bus.–Blairs,Danville	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
	​	16.0	25.7	—	US 29 Bus.south toSR 726–Blairs,Danville	North end of freeway; southbound exit and northbound entrance
	Chatham	23.4	37.7	—	US 29 Bus.north –Chatham	South end of expressway; northbound exit and southbound entrance
	​	24.8	39.9	—	SR 57–Chatham,South Boston
	​	25.7	41.4	—	SR 685–Chatham
	​	27.0	43.5	—	US 29 Bus.south toSR 57west –Chatham	North end of expressway
	​	33.0	53.1	—	US 29 Bus.north –Gretna	South end of expressway; northbound exit and southbound entrance
	​	35.0	56.3	—	SR 40–Gretna,Rocky Mount
	​	37.2	59.9	—	US 29 Bus.south –Gretna	North end of expressway; southbound exit and northbound entrance
	​	41.6	66.9	—	US 29 Bus.north –Hurt	South end of expressway
	​	44.7	71.9	—	SR 924–Hurt
Campbell	​	48.6	78.2	—	SR 43–Altavista,Leesville
	​	49.5	79.7	—	SR 714–Altavista
	Altavista	50.8	81.8	—	SR 711(Clarion Road)
	​	51.9	83.5	—	US 29 Bus.south –Altavista	North end of expressway
	Yellow Branch	61.3	98.7		SR 24(Colonial Highway) –Evington,Rustburg,Smith Mountain Lake
	​	67.9	109.3		US 460west /US 29 Bus.north (Wards Road) –Lynchburg,Roanoke	South end of freeway section; south end of concurrency with US 460
CityofLynchburg		68.6	110.4		University Boulevard	Southbound entrance only
		69.4	111.7	—	ToSR 670(Candlers Mountain Road) –Liberty University	University Blvd. not signed northbound; SR 670 not signed southbound
		70.0	112.7	—	US 501north (Candlers Mountain Road) –Buena Vista	South end of concurrency with US 501
		71.2	114.6	—	Odd Fellows Road
		72.3	116.4	—	US 501south /US 460 Bus.west /US 501 Bus.north (Campbell Avenue) –South Boston	North end of freeway section; north end of concurrency with US 501
Campbell	​	74.3	119.6	—	US 460east (Richmond Highway) –Appomattox	South end of freeway; north end of concurrency with US 460
Amherst	​	76.0	122.3	—	SR 210west –Madison Heights,Downtown Lynchburg
	​	80.0	128.7	—	SR 130west –Madison Heights
	Sweet Briar	87.0	140.0	—	US 29 Bus.–Madison Heights,Amherst
	Amherst	88.9	143.1	—	US 60–Amherst,Lexington,Richmond
		90.3	145.3	—	US 29 Bus.south (Main Street) /SR 739north (Boxwood Farm Road) –Amherst	North end of freeway; SR 739 is former southern terminus ofSR 150
	​	92.2	148.4		SR 151north (Patrick Henry Highway) –Piney River,Afton,Wintergreen
	​	96.7	155.6		SR 739–Tye River	FormerSR 150
	​	97.1	156.3		SR 739south (Napier Loop)	Former northern terminus ofSR 150
Nelson	Colleen	100.7	162.1		SR 56west (Tye Brook Highway) –Piney River	South end of concurrency with SR 56
	Lovingston	105.0	169.0		US 29 Bus.north /SR 56east (Front Street) –Lovingston,Shipman	North end of concurrency with SR 56
		105.8	170.3		US 29 Bus.south (Northside Lane) –Lovingston
	Woods Mill	112.3	180.7		SR 6west (River Road) –Afton,Wintergreen	South end of concurrency with SR 6
	​	116.2	187.0		SR 6east (Irish Road) –Scottsville,Schuyler	North end of concurrency with SR 6
Albemarle	Crossroads	125.5	202.0		SR 692(Plank Road) –Batesville,North Garden	FormerSR 230north
	​	134.2	216.0	—	I-64–Staunton,Richmond	South end of freeway; I-64 exit 118
	​	134.8	216.9	—	US 29 Bus.north –Charlottesville,University of Virginia Health System
	​	136.2	219.2	—	US 250west /US 250 Bus.east –Waynesboro,Charlottesville,Ivy	South end of concurrency with US 250
	​	136.5	219.7	—	ToSR 601	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
	​	136.9	220.3	—	Leonard Sandridge Road –University of Virginia	Northbound exit and entrance only
	​	137.7	221.6	—	SR 654(Barracks Road)
CityofCharlottesville		138.2	222.4	—	US 250east /US 29 Bus.south (Emmet Street) –Richmond,University of Virginia	North end of freeway; north end of concurrency with US 250
Albemarle	​	140.2	225.6		SR 631(Rio Road) –Charlottesville	Interchange
		144.3	232.2		SR 649(Airport Road / Proffit Road) –Earlysville,Proffit,Charlottesville Albemarle Airport,Sentara Martha Jefferson Hospital
Greene	Ruckersville	152.1	244.8		US 33(Spotswood Trail) –Harrisonburg,Richmond
	Burtonville	155.2	249.8		SR 609(Fredericksburg Road)	formerSR 243west
Madison	​	161.4	259.7		SR 230west (Wolftown–Hood Road) /SR 626(Gibbs Road) –Stanardsville	South end of concurrency with SR 230
	​	161.9	260.6		SR 230east /SR 231south (Orange Road) –Gordonsville,Orange	North end of concurrency with SR 230; south end of concurrency with SR 231
	​	163.3	262.8		US 29 Bus.north /SR 231north (South Main Street) –Madison,Shenandoah National Park,Skyline Drive,Historic Downtown Madison	North end of concurrency with SR 231; northbound exit and southbound entrance
	​	163.4	263.0		SR 687(Fairground Road)	formerSR 27
	​	164.2	264.3		SR 634(Washington Street / Oak Park Road) –Madison,Locust Dale	formerSR 230
	​	165.3	266.0		US 29 Bus.south (North Main Street) /SR 722(Fishback Road) toSR 231north –Madison
Culpeper	​	179.0	288.1	—	US 29 Bus.north /SR 299south –Culpeper	South end of expressway
	​	179.9	289.5	—	US 15south /US 15 Bus.north –Culpeper,Orange	South end of concurrency with US 15
	​	181.4	291.9	—	US 522/SR 3–Mineral,Fredericksburg
	​	183.7	295.6		SR 666–Culpeper
	Inlet	185.2	298.1	—	US 15 Bus.south /US 29 Bus.south –Culpeper,Brandy Station	North end of expressway
	​	192.1	309.2		US 15 Bus.north /US 29 Bus.north (Remington Road) –Remington
Fauquier	​	194.5	313.0		US 15 Bus.south /US 29 Bus.south (James Madison Street) –Remington
	​	194.8	313.5		SR 28north (Catlett Road) /SR 657(Kings Hill Road) –Manassas,Warrenton-Fauquier Airport
	Opal	198.9	320.1		US 17south (Marsh Road) /SR 687(Opal Road) toI-95–Fredericksburg	Interchange; south end of concurrency with US 17
	​	203.6	327.7		US 15 Bus.north /US 17 Bus.north /US 29 Bus.north /SR 880(Lord Fairfax Road) –Warrenton,Lord Fairfax Community College Fauquier Campus
	Warrenton	205.3	330.4		SR 643(Meetze Road / Lee Street) –Warrenton	Interchange
		206.5	332.3		US 17north /US 15 Bus.south /US 29 Bus.south toI-66west /I-81/US 211west –Winchester,Warrenton,Luray	Interchange; north end of concurrency with US 17
	Buckland	213.0	342.8		SR 215east (Vint Hill Road) –Vint Hill Farms Station,Lake Brittle
Prince William	​	214.0	344.4		US 15north (James Madison Highway) –Leesburg	North end of concurrency with US 15
	Gainesville	217.0	349.2		SR 55west (John Marshall Highway) /SR 619east (Linton Hall Road) –Haymarket,Front Royal	Interchange
		217.8	350.5		I-66–Front Royal,Washington	Interchange; I-66 exit 43
	Manassas National Battlefield Park	221.8	357.0		SR 234(Sudley Road) toI-66–Visitor Center,NVCC,Manassas
Fairfax	Bull Run	224.7	361.6		SR 609(Pleasant Valley Road)
	Centreville	226.3	364.2		I-66–Washington,Front Royal	I-66 exit 52
		227.2	365.6		SR 28toI-66east –Dulles Airport,Manassas
	Willow Springs	228.6	367.9		SR 645(Stringfellow Road / Clifton Road) –Clifton
	​	230.3	370.6		SR 286(Fairfax County Parkway) /SR 608(West Ox Road) toI-66	Interchange
	Jermantown	232.3	373.9		SR 655south (Shirley Gate Road) /SR 665(Waples Mill Road) toI-66/I-495/SR 123south –George Mason University
CityofFairfax		233.1	375.1		US 50west /SR 236east (Fairfax Boulevard / Main Street) toI-66–Old Town Fairfax	South end of concurrency with US 50
		234.0	376.6		SR 123(Chain Bridge Road) toI-66–Old Town Fairfax,George Mason University
		235.8	379.5		US 50east /SR 237west (Fairfax Boulevard) / Old Lee Highway	Fairfax Circle (traffic circlewith cut-through); north end of concurrency with US 50; south end of concurrency with SR 237
Fairfax	​	236.0	379.8		SR 655(Blake Lane) toSR 236(Pickett Road)
	Merrifield	236.7	380.9		SR 243north (Nutley Street) toI-66–Vienna/Fairfax-GMU Station
		238.7	384.2		SR 650(Gallows Road) toI-495
	​	239.0	384.6		I-495 Expresssouth
CityofFalls Church		241.5	388.7		SR 338east (Hillwood Avenue)
		241.8	389.1		SR 7(Broad Street)
Arlington	East Falls Church	242.4	390.1		SR 237east toI-66west	North end of concurrency with SR 237
	Glebewood	244.6	393.6		SR 120(North Glebe Road) –Chain Bridge,Alexandria
	Waverly Hills	244.7	393.8		SR 309west (Old Dominion Drive) toSR 120–McLean	South end of concurrency with SR 309; no left turn northbound
		244.8	394.0		SR 309east (Cherry Hill Road) / to Lorcom Lane	North end of concurrency with SR 309
	Cherrydale	245.5	395.1		SR 309west (Cherry Hill Road) / Military Road / Quincy Street	Eastern terminus of SR 309
	Lyon Village	246.1	396.1		I-66west –Front Royal,Dulles Airport	I-66 exit 72
		246.2	396.2		SR 124east (Spout Run Parkway) / Kirkwood Road	Western terminus of SR 124
	Rosslyn	247.0	397.5		I-66west toSR 267	I-66 exit 74; southbound exit and northbound entrance
		247.6	398.5		I-66east toI-395	I-66 exit 74
		247.7	398.6		George Washington Parkwaynorth toI-495	No southbound entrance
Potomac River		248.0	399.1		US 29north (Key Bridge) –Washington	Continuation into theDistrict of Columbia
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Concurrencyterminus Electronic toll collection Incomplete access

See also

• Special routes of U.S. Route 29
• Missing persons cases along U.S. Route 29 in Virginia

External links

Template:Attached KML/U.S. Route 29 in Virginia

KML is from Wikidata

• Virginia Highways Project: US 29
• Great Virginia Drives - U.S. 29: The Seminole Trail