U.S. Route 250

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U.S. Route 250

Length:

514 mi (827 km)

Formed:

1928

West end:

US 6 in Sandusky, OH

Major
junctions:

I-80/I-90 near Sandusky, OH

I-71 near Ashland, OH
US 30 near Wooster, OH
I-77 near Strasburg, OH
I-70 in Wheeling, WV
I-79 near Fairmont, WV
US 33 near Elkins, WV
I-81 near Staunton, VA
I-64 near Waynesboro, VA

East end:

US 60 in Richmond, VA

United States Numbered Highways
Spur of US 50
List - Bannered - Divided - Replaced

U.S. Route 250 is a spur of U.S. Highway 50. It currently runs for 514 miles (827 km) from Richmond, Virginia to Sandusky, Ohio. It passes through the states of Virginia, West Virginia, and Ohio. It goes through the cities of Richmond, Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, Staunton, Virginia, and Wheeling, West Virginia. In West Virginia, the route is signed North/South. In Ohio and Virginia, the route is signed East/West.

1 Route description
2 History
3 References

[edit] Route description

[edit] Ohio

In Ohio, U.S. Route 250 is an important cross-state corridor linking Bridgeport (on the Ohio River) to Sandusky (on Lake Erie). From a regional/traffic perspective, the route can roughly be divided into four sections linking major regions and routes of the state:

I-70 at Bridgeport to US 22 at Cadiz
US 22 at Cadiz to I-77 at New Philadelphia
I-77 at Strasburg to US 30 at Wooster
US 30 at Wooster to US 20 at Norwalk
US 20 at Norwalk to US 6 in Sandusky

[edit] Bridgeport to Cadiz

Heading westbound, U.S. Route 250 enters Bridgeport along with US 40 by crossing the backchannel of the Ohio River from Wheeling, West Virginia. (US 250 is considered to run north/south in West Virginia, whereas Ohio considers it to be east/west.)

Immediately after crossing the Ohio River, U.S. 250 interchanges with OH 7 and splits away from US 40. For approximately the next 25 miles, U.S. 250 runs diagonally northwest to Cadiz. For much of this distance, the road is surrounded by houses, runs on ridgetops, and has a generally poor alignment.

The poor alignment of this section of the highway, along with the fact that it runs through Cadiz as opposed to bypassing it, limits the usefulness of this section of the road as a through route. To resolve these issues, the Ohio Department of Transportation is developing plans to construct a Super 2 replacement for this route. A bypass of Cadiz was planned for construction in 2004^[1], although it has not been built as of 2008. The new route is to roughly parallel OH 9 and OH 331, running from Cadiz to a point near Saint Clairsville. At this point, it is expected that US 250 will be realigned to follow I-70 east to Wheeling, West Virginia.

[edit] Cadiz to Dover

Heading west from Cadiz, US 250 is briefly concurrent with US 22 along the Cadiz bypass. After the bypass, U.S. 250 picks up as a 2-lane road heading northwest. This route is generally of good quality, although the state is studying replacement or upgrade through its Macro-Corridors Project^[2]. Approximately half-way between Cadiz and Dennison, US 250 follows Tappan Lake for several miles on a series of causeways built during the construction of the lake in the 1930s.

At Dennison, OH 800 joins US 250 for a brief distance along the Dennison/Uhrichsville bypass, and then on a nearly-all freeway route to New Philadelphia. Just south of downtown New Philadelphia, OH 800 leaves the freeway. Approximately 1.5 miles west, U.S. 250 joins I-77 for 6 miles (9.7 km) north on a bypass of New Philadelphia and Dover.

[edit] Strasburg to Wooster

Immediately after leaving Interstate 77, US 250 travels through the town of Strasburg. About 2 miles (3.2 km) west of Strasburg, U.S. 250 intersects with OH 21, the former U.S. Route 21. Here traffic either splits to follow OH 21 north towards Massillon or stays west on US 250 towards Woooster. This stretch of US 250 bypassing Strasburg has been proposed for a bypass, but the project has not been selected for further work as of 2008.^[3]

Near Wooster, US 250 joins first OH 83 north and then US 30 west freeways to bypass its original alignment through downtown Wooster.

[edit] Wooster to Norwalk

From Wooster, US 250 heads in a generally northwest direction towards Ashland and then Norwalk. Much of the route is rural, but carries a high level of truck and regular traffic.

[edit] Norwalk to Sandusky

The final section of US 250, from Norwalk to Sandusky, is the most heavily developed section of the road. This part of the route carries much traffic connecting to the Ohio Turnpike, and during the summer, people bound for Cedar Point.

[edit] West Virginia

US 250 at I-470 near Wheeling, West Virginia.

U.S. Route 250 northern entrance into West Virginia is via the Military Order of the Purple Heart Bridge from Bridgeport, Ohio onto Wheeling Island. It is briefly co-signed with U.S. Route 40. The route additionally co-signs with Interstate 70 and crosses the Ohio River on the Fort Henry Bridge in Wheeling, West Virginia. U.S. Route 250 then exits Interstate 70 east of the Wheeling Tunnel and joins WV Route 2 one mile later. In Moundsville, West Virginia, the route leaves WV Route 2 and departs toward Cameron, Mannington, and Fairmont. It finally intersects with its parent route, U.S. Highway 50 in Grafton and continues southward. U.S. Route 250 in West Virginia includes the Philippi Covered Bridge at Philippi, the only covered bridge serving the U.S. Federal Highway system.

[edit] Virginia

U.S. Route 250 in Virginia is an important highway that runs in a westerly direction from Richmond and roughly parallels Interstate 64 until Staunton. The name of Rt. 250 is Broad Street in Richmond. In Charlottesville it's named Richmond Road in the East and Ivy Road in the West and is confusingly routed through town on several different streets including High Street, W. Main Street and Preston Avenue, and there also exists a 250 bypass that is, with the exception of 4 intersections and a fire station, mostly a limited access divided highway. It continues westward through the smaller towns of Ivy, Crozet and Afton, where it divides the Blue Ridge Parkway from the Skyline Drive. It goes through Waynesboro and Staunton. At Staunton, the road continues west through Highland County and on into West Virginia. This portion of the road was called the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike since it was the main trade route for salt and other commodities in the early 19th century. This route was important during the American Civil War and was defended by Stonewall Jackson's troops at the Battle of McDowell in 1862.

[edit] History

U.S. Route 250 was created in 1928 and was originally routed from U.S. Highway 50 in Grafton, West Virginia north/west to Norwalk, Ohio. In 1932, the route was expanded west to Sandusky, Ohio. In 1934, the route was expanded southward and eastward to Richmond, Virginia.^[4]