 U.S. Route 60 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 US 60 highlighted in red | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by VDOT | ||||
| Length | 302.69 mi[1] (487.13 km) | |||
| Existed | 1926–present | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| West end |   I-64 / US 60 near Callaghan | |||
| East end | Harbour Point/Rudee Point Road in Virginia Beach | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | Virginia | |||
| Counties | Alleghany, City of Covington, Rockbridge, City of Lexington, City of Buena Vista, Amherst, Nelson, Appomattox, Buckingham, Cumberland, Powhatan, Chesterfield, City of Richmond, Henrico, New Kent, James City, City of Williamsburg, York, City of Newport News, City of Hampton, City of Norfolk, City of Virginia Beach | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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U.S. Route 60 (US 60) in the Commonwealth of Virginia runs 303 miles (488 km) west to east through the central part of the state, generally close to and paralleling the Interstate 64 corridor, except for the crossing of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and in the South Hampton Roads area.
Between Lexington in the Shenandoah Valley and Richmond, I-64 uses a lower elevation crossing of the Blue Ridge Mountains located about 30 miles (48 km) further north, where it runs parallel to U.S. Route 250 through Rockfish Gap. In contrast, through this section, the older US 60 is mostly a rural two-lane road. With the crossing of the Blue Ridge Mountains at Humphreys Gap at a higher altitude in more rugged terrain, US 60 in this area offers much more challenging and weather-sensitive driving conditions, as well as a history of many crashes in the years before I-64 was completed. (The original US 60 alignment through Glasgow, now US 501, is lower than either but much curvier than I-64.)
East of north–south U.S. Route 29 (which runs parallel to the eastern slope of the Blue Ridge), the older US 60 and I-64 gradually converge as they pass through the rolling hills of the rocky Piedmont region in an easterly direction to reach the Fall Line at Richmond, where they again become very close.
From Richmond east to the harbor area near the mouth of Hampton Roads, US 60 again essentially parallels I-64 through Williamsburg and the Historic Triangle region, extending down the Virginia Peninsula east to the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel. A few miles south of the bridge-tunnel, in Norfolk, US 60 diverges to follow the south shoreline of the Chesapeake Bay through Ocean View and past the south entrance to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel to reach Cape Henry. There it curves south to run along the Atlantic Ocean shoreline to end near the south end of the Virginia Beach resort strip.[1][2]
The first developed portions of US 60 in Virginia included the Manchester Turnpike, later known as the Midlothian Turnpike, west from Richmond and the James River and Kanawha Turnpike west of Lexington into West Virginia.