U.S. Route 250

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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, and Wheeling, West Virginia. In West Virginia, the route is signed North/South. In Ohio and Virginia, the route is signed East/West.

History

U.S. Route 250 was opened 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. [1]

States traversed

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 U.S. Route 22 at Cadiz
U.S. Route 22 at Cadiz to I-77 at New Philadelphia
I-77 at Strasburg to U.S. Route 30 at Wooster
U.S. Route 30 at Wooster to U.S. Route 20, the Ohio Turnpike, State Route 2, and U.S. Route 6 in the Norwalk-Sandusky area

Bridgeport to Cadiz

Heading westbound, U.S. Route 250 enters Bridgeport along with U.S. Route 40 by crossing the backchannel of the Ohio River from Wheeling, West Virginia. (U.S. Route 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 State Route 7 and splits away from U.S. Route 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 on this distance, runs on ridgetops, or otherwise has a poor alignment. In general, this section of road normally takes about 40 minutes to drive although slow traffic can significantly increase this due to limited passing zones.

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 is planned first and will shave several minutes of travel time. The new route is to roughly parallel State Route 9 and State Route 331, running from Cadiz to a point near Saint Clairsville. At this point, it is expected that U.S. 250 will be realigned to follow I-70 east to Wheeling, West Virginia. There is not a solid timeline for construction of the new route, but once it is completed this route will likely become the preferred way from the Canton area and points north to Wheeling instead of the current I-77 to I-70 path.

Cadiz to Dover

Heading west out of Cadiz, U.S. 250 is briefly multiplexed with U.S. Route 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 and supports traffic speeds of 55+ miles per hour without difficulty. Approximately half-way between Cadiz and Dennison, U.S. 250 follows Tappan Lake for several miles on a series of causeways built during the construction of the lake in the 1930s.

At Dennison, State Route 800 joins U.S. 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, State Route 800 leaves the freeway. Approximately 1.5 miles west, U.S. 250 joins I-77 for 6 miles north on a bypass of New Philadelphia and Dover.

Strasburg to Wooster

Immediately after leaving Interstate 77, U.S. 250 travels through the town of Strasburg. About two miles west of Strasburg, U.S. 250 intersects with State Route 21, the former U.S. Route 21. Here traffic either splits to follow State Route 21 north towards Massillon or stays west on U.S. 250 towards Woooster. This stretch of U.S. 250 between State Route 21 and Interstate 77 is eventually slated for a bypass, but it is not planned before the year 2011.

Wooster to Sandusky

Overall description

This section of U.S. 250 is fairly heavily traveled and is a part of a major regional corridor, linking the southern part of the Northeast Ohio to the Pittsburgh area. The state previously had plans for upgrading the remaining 2-lane portions of U.S. 250 to a 4-lane facility, but these appear to have been shelved and are not particularly needed. U.S. Route 250 in Ohio is an important highway that runs in a northwesterly direction from Bridgeport (on the Ohio River) to Sandusky (on Lake Erie). This road roughly outlines the northeastern part of the state. U.S. Route 250 runs through the counties of Belmont, Jefferson, Harrison, Tuscarawas, Stark, Wayne, Ashland, Huron, and Erie. It passes through the towns of Bridgeport, Harrisville, Cadiz (county seat of Harrison County), Dennison, Uhrichsville, New Philadelphia (county seat of Tuscarawas County), Dover, Strasburg, Wilmot, Mount Eaton, Apple Creek, Wooster (county seat of Wayne County), Rowsburg, Ashland (county seat of Ashland County), Bailey Lake, Savannah, Fitchville, Norwalk (county seat of Huron County), Milan, and Sandusky (county seat of Erie County). U.S. Route 250 enters Ohio in the town of Bridgeport and crosses the backchannel of the Ohio River on the Military Order of the Purple Heart bridge along with U.S. Route 40 into West Virginia.

U.S. Route 250 has multiple junctions with other U.S. highways as well as Ohio state highways. These include (in order from the Ohio River to Lake Erie) Interstate 70, U.S. Route 40, Ohio Route 7, Ohio Route 150, Ohio Route 519, Ohio Route 9, U.S. Route 22, Ohio Route 646, Ohio Route 151, Ohio Route 800, U.S. Route 36, Ohio Route 259, Ohio Route 416, Interstate 77, Ohio Route 39, Ohio Route 516, Ohio Route 21, Ohio Route 93, Ohio Route 212, U.S. Route 62, Ohio Route 241, Ohio Route 94, Ohio Route 83, U.S. Route 30, Ohio Route 302, Ohio Route 3, Ohio Route 89, Interstate 71, U.S. Route 42, Ohio Route 58, Ohio Route 511, Ohio Route 60, Ohio Route 302 (repeat), Ohio Route 545, Ohio Route 60 (repeat), U.S. Route 224, Ohio Route 162, Ohio Route 13, Ohio Route 162 (repeat), U.S. Route 20, Ohio Route 18, Ohio Route 61, Ohio Route 601, Ohio Route 113, Interstate 80/90 (Ohio Turnpike), Ohio Route 2, and U.S. Route 6.

West Virginia

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US 250 at Interstate 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.

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.