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Interstate 64: I-64
leaves the mountains of West Virginia only to roll over
into the heart of the Allegheny Mountains of Virginia in
the George Washington National Forrest. In fact, the
entire first 65 miles of I-64 runs through Covington,
VA, on the beautiful Jackson River, and stays in the
National Forrest with all of its rugged scenery until it
reaches the downward slope to Lexington, VA and its
merge with I-81.
Once out of the George Washington National Forrest and
across the final foothills of the Allegheny Mountains,
I-64 connects with I-81 and maintains this convergence
for 30 miles. Then, Interstate 64 breaks away from I-81
just south of Staunton, Virginia. From there it levels
out and heads east coming first to Charlottesville, home
of the University of Virginia. The entire route of
I-64’s 300 mile journey to the Virginia Beach Seashore
parallels a number of major inter-regional highways:
US-60 from West Virginia to Lexington, US-11 from
Lexington to Staunton, US-250 from Staunton to Richmond,
US-60 from Richmond to Norfolk, and Military Highway
(VA-165 and US-13) from Norfolk to Bowers Hill in
Chesapeake.
On your journey along the 300 miles of I-64 in the State
of Virginia you will notice a wide and beautiful
sampling of every type of terrain found in the state.
I-64 traverses rugged mountainous regions that reign
supreme in the western quarter of the State where
Virginia and West Virginia are clearly defined by the
Allegheny Mountains. Rolling hills that taper to a
gentle slope in the center of the state continue till
the landscape becomes nearly flat coastal plains. The
final major terrain change occurs when you encounter the
flat salt marsh as I-64 enters the Chesapeake Bay area
and on into the Virginia Beach section. Here it
terminates into four Interstate spur-and-loop routes.
I-264 is the Portsmouth to Norfolk connector, I-464 the
Norfolk to Chesapeake connector, I-564 spur feeds
Admiral Tausig Blvd. leading to the Pine Beach section
of North Norfolk, and I-664 the Hampton Roads Belt
Bridge. All of these routes occur within a 10 mile
radius of Norfolk. There are no other spurs off of I-64
anywhere else in Virginia.
Many Interstate highways have become embattled in legal
proceedings during their construction. Most legal
ramifications came from people NOT wanting the
Interstates built in their area. I-64 also had its share
but in this case people were fighting to have the
Interstate built near them as they realized the
favorable economic impact the roadway would bring. The
major contention over I-64’s path was the Richmond,
Virginia area. A northern route finally won out over a
southern path after much vacillating on the part of the
state and federal governments. |
