From:  City of Richmond To:  City of Fredericksburg Current Length:  59 miles
ROUTE LOG US 1, US 301 SB: 0 - 0 RIC-HR LINE: 0 - 0 I-95 (exit 82): 0.5 - 0.5 HR-HN LINE: 1 - 1.5 I-295 (exit 41): 0.5 - 2 VA 54, VA 54Y: 12 - 14 CL-HN LINE: 2 - 16 VA 30: 3 - 19 US 301 NB, VA 207, Begin US 301 Bus, Begin VA 207 Bus: 14 - 33 US 301 Bus NB, VA 207 Bus SB: 1 - 34 SP-CL LINE: 17 - 51 US 17, Begin US 17 Bus: 1 - 52 FRD-SP LINE: 5 - 57 VA 3: 1 - 58 Us 1 Bus SB: 0.5 - 58.5 US 1 Bus NB, US 17 Bus NB, VA 3 Bus: 0.5 - 59		Creation:  VA 2 appeared in 1933 as a replacement for VA 50 during the Great Renumbering II. It began at US 1 as it does now, but it is not clear if VA 2 started out with the multiplex with US 17 North of New Post, but it was definitely there by 1941. This is the 2nd VA 2. Adjustments:  None except US 301 was attached to the southern 34 miles in 1940 Posting:  Fully posted. Posting in the city of Fredericksburg is very scarce and largely confusing. VA 2 south appears on the US 1 Byp right after a gantry suggesting VA 2 turns left on US 1 Bus. There are also error VA 2 Business signs at US 301/VA 207 Bus. in Bowling Green Comments:  An alternate route to I-95 and US 1.  Coexistent with US 301 south of Bowling Green, an unusually long multiplex for Virginia.
Previous VA 2's:		VA 2 #1:  An original Virginia route that existed from the beginning until 1923, as the forerunner to the 1920's VA 32. The 1922-23 Auto showed VA 2's alignment: then-NC 75 (curr US 15) below Clarksville to Keysville, Farmville, Gordonsville, Orange, Culpeper, Bealeton, Warrenton, Middleburg, Leesburg to Maryland at Point of Rocks. Today this is approximately US 15 from NC to US 250, SR's to Gordonsville, US 15 to Locust Dale, SR's and US 522 to Culpeper, US 15 to Remington, SR's and US 17 to Bealelton and Opal, US 17 and VA 245 to The Plains, SR 628 and US 50 to Middleburg and Gilberts Corner, and US 15 to Maryland. VA 2 was renumbered as VA 32 in 1923.

From:  Culpeper (Culpeper County) To:  Gloucester (Gloucester County) Current Length:  155 miles Business Routes:  Fredericksburg (since 1997), Warsaw (since 2001)
ROUTE LOG US 15 Bus NB, US 29 Bus NB, US 522 NB: 0 - 0 US 15 Bus SB: 0.5 - 0.5 US 15, US 29: 1 - 1.5 US 522 SB: 0.5 - 2 OR-CP LINE: 15 - 17 VA 20: 4 - 21 SP-OR LINE: 0 - 21 FRD-SP LINE: 13 - 34 I-95, US 17 (exit 130): 0.5 - 34.5 US 1: 1 - 35.5 VA 3 Bus: 0.5 - 36 US 1 Bus: 0.5 - 36.5 US 17 Bus, VA 2: 0.5 - 37 ST-FRD LINE: 0.5 - 37.5 VA 3 Bus: 0.5 - 38 VA 206: 16 - 54 VA 205: 2 - 56 US 301: 2 - 58 WE-ST LINE: 7 - 65 VA 205: 4 - 69 VA 204: 2 - 71 VA 347: 6 - 77 VA 214: 1 - 78 VA 202: 8 - 86 RC-WE LINE: 5 - 91 VA 203: 1 - 92 VA 3 Bus: 3 - 95 US 360, VA 3 Bus: 1 - 96 LA-RC LINE: 17 - 113 VA 354: 1 - 114 VA 201: 5 - 119 VA 200: 10 - 129 MI-LA LINE: 3 - 132 VA 33 WB: 5 - 137 VA 33 EB: 3 - 140 MT-MI LINE: 2 - 142 VA 198 EB: 1 - 143 VA 198 WB: 2 - 145 VA 14 EB: 2 - 147 GL-MT LINE: 1 - 148 US 17 Bus, VA 14 WB: 7 - 155		Creation:  VA 3 appeared in 1933 as a full replacement for both VA 37 and VA 827 during the Great Renumbering II. Thus, it began in Westland (east of White Stone along curr. SR 695) and proceeded to Warsaw, Fredericksburg, past Culpeper to Front Royal and Winchester (along curr US 522), and continued to the WV line (curr. SR 739). The 1933 Official map shows a small break in VA 3 above Winchester. This is the 2nd VA 3. Adjustments:  The small break above Winchester was connected by July 1936. VA 3 west was truncated to Culpeper between 1945-47 with the addition of US 522.  The section above Winchester became VA 261. In 1950, VA 3 was straightened out on new alignments in Lancaster County, avoiding Litwalton, Nuttsville, and McNeal Corner. This new alignment was referred to in some CTB Minutes as VA 3 ALT. After VA 3 was moved, the old VA 3 became: an extended VA 354 from Litwalton to the Richmond County Line; SR 622 from VA 354 to VA 3; VA 201 from Lively to McNeals Corner; SR 600 from McNeal's Corner to Lancaster CH. Between 1948-53, VA 3 was truncated on the east end to VA 200 at White Stone.  In 1957, VA 3 replaced VA 200 from White Stone to VA 33, and was extended south to Gloucester (also eliminating VA 225). By 1961 VA 3 was using the new Rappahannock River bridge to its current Gloucester end.  In 1986, VA 3 and VA 200 swapped alignments between Kilmarnock and White Stone Posting:  Fully posted. Cutouts still up in Culpeper (thanks Gribblenation) Comments:  One of the longest state routes in Virginia, stretching between Chesapeake Bay and the Shenandoah foothills.  Until around 1996, part of this road in King George and Westmoreland Cos. had the odd name Historyland Highway. David Thompson makes this comment: The "Historyland Highway" signs on VA 3 were also used on US 17 east of Fredericksburg. I always thought that was a really dumb name for a road, and I suppose that somebody agreed with me. US 17 is also signed "Tidewater Trail" in that area, which was the traditional name for the road long before it ever got a number. VDOT is slowly upgrading VA 3 in Northern Neck (billboards used to ask "VA 3 Historyland Highway or Colonial Cowpath") and in Culpeper County Signage oddity: At VA 206 in King George Co. is highest route with a highway shield I've ever seen: CR 9951.  It goes into an elementary school.
Previous VA 3's:		VA 3 #1:  An original Virginia route that existed from the beginning until 1923, mostly as the forerunner to the 1920's VA 33. The 1922-23 Auto Trails map shows VA 3 to run: then-NC 897 (curr US 220) to Ridgeway, Martinsville, Rocky Mount, Roanoke, Buchanan, Lexington, Brownsburg, Middlebrook, Staunton, Harrisonburg, New Market, Strasburg, Winchester, then west to Gore and West Virginia. Today this is approximated by VA 87, US 220, SR 919, US 220, US 11, VA 39, VA 252, US 11, and US 50. In 1923 VA 3 became the first VA 33 except between Lexington and Staunton, which got a little of the first VA 172 but was mostly unnumbered. VA 33 was given to US 11's current routing from Lexington to Staunton. The VA 3 section west of Winchester became part of VA 36. VA 3 ALT: Appears in CTB Minutes of 1948-1949 as the new VA 3 alignment being built to avoid LItwalton and Nuttsville. The 1950 Official implies the old and new VA 3 routes were not both primary at the same time, so VA 3 ALT may have been signed only as VA 3. VA 3 CONN:  Early designation for what became the VA 3 Bypass of Fredericksburg, which had the section between US 17 BUS-VA 2 and VA 3 across the river open long before the bypass was completed. Is shown as VA 3 CONN on Official State Maps from 1986 and is even still called that erroneously on the 2002-04 map. When it was extended west to US 1 Bus around 1995, it was signed as just VA 3. Before that the short connector across the river was just "TO VA 3" or "TO US 17."

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Page last modified 1 December, 2006