U.S. Route 11 in Virginia


U.S. Route 11 is a north-south United States highway that traverses through western Virginia, parallel to Interstate 81.

Route description

Virginia's portion of US 11 begins at the four-way intersection of east-west Euclid Avenue and north-south Commonwealth Avenue in Bristol. At this intersection, a pair of divided U.S. Highways, US 11W and US 11E, merge to form mainline US 11. US 11W and US 11E parallel each other through East Tennessee to Knoxville, where the divided routes merge to form mainline US 11 again. The west leg of the intersection features southbound US 11W and northbound US 421. The U.S. Highways split at the Tennessee state line; US 11W heads southwest toward Kingsport, Tennessee while US 421 soon joins US 58 west toward Gate City, Virginia. The south leg of the intersection includes southbound US 11E, southbound US 19, southbound US 421, and southbound SR 381. At the Tennessee state line at State Street in downtown Bristol, SR 381 has its southern terminus, US 421 turns east toward Mountain City, Tennessee, and US 11E and US 19 continue south to Johnson City, Tennessee. The north leg of the intersection is SR 381, which is a state-numbered, street-level continuation of I-381, a spur south from I-81.
US 11 and US 19 head east as a two-lane divided boulevard through a residential area. The street becomes undivided shortly before the U.S. Highways reach the northern end of SR 113, which heads south toward Virginia Intermont College and downtown Bristol. US 11 and US 19 continue northeast on Lee Highway, which here and in much of Virginia is a three-lane road with center turn lane. The highway meets I-81 and US 58 at a diamond interchange with a rakish angle. US 11 and US 19 pass under Norfolk Southern Railway's Pulaski District and cross Beaver Creek before leaving the city of Bristol. The two highways continue northeast through Washington County, where they pass Virginia Highlands Airport before entering the town of Abingdon. At the west end of town, US 11 and US 19 intersect SR 140, a connector between the U.S. Highways and I-81 that also serves Virginia Highlands Community College. The U.S. highways continue east as Main Street, which passes under the Norfolk Southern rail line before US 19 turns north onto Porterfield Highway. US 11 becomes four lanes and then two at its intersection with US 58 Alternate, which leads to the William King Museum, in downtown Abingdon. The alternate route runs along Main Street for a short distance before turning south with SR 75 to rejoin US 58 at I-81. US 11 passes the Barter Theatre. At the east end of town, US 11 crosses over the rail line and meets I-81 at a partial cloverleaf interchange. US 11 has a short concurrency with US 58 east of the interchange before US 58 splits to the east as Jeb Stuart Highway.
US 11 meets the southern end of SR 80 south of the communities of Meadowview and Emory; the latter village is the home of Emory and Henry College. The U.S. Highway intersects SR 91 south of Glade Spring before the highway closely parallels I-81. US 11 has an interchange with I-81 where the highway crosses to the north side of the Interstate shortly before entering Smyth County.

History

What is now US 11 was added to the state highway system in 1918 as portions of State Route 10 and State Route 3. SR 3 became State Route 33 in 1923, and US 11 was applied to its present alignment in 1926. SR 10 and SR 33 vere dropped in 1933.

Major intersections