The Seminole Trail: Charlottesville
The City of Charlottesville is one of the most vibrant, colorful, and enjoyable cities in all of Virginia.  Anchored by the University of Virginia, Charlottesville is full of history, beauty, and charm.  The Downtown Mall, formerly Main Street, has been one of the most successful pedestrian malls in the country.  Home of over 120 shops and 30 restaurants - many of which include outdoor dining - the Mall mixes in historical architecture, specialty shops, live entertainment, and a festive atmosphere. (1)

For over 30 years, US 29 ran through the heart of Charlottesville and the University of Virginia.  This changed in the mid-1960s, when a three and a half mile bypass opened to the west of town.  Part of this bypass was routed on the existing US 250 bypass.  The 250 bypass was built in the 1950s running east-west traffic on the north end of the city.  The former routing of US 29, which ran on Fontaine Ave., Jefferson Park Ave. and Emmet St., became US 29 Business. 
At Emmet St., US 29 leaves the bypass and returns briefly to its original path.  This interchange consisting of the US 29/250 Bypass, US 29 Business (Emmet St.) and US 29 North is very tight and heavily congested.  It is a partial cloverleaf and during rush hours or on football Saturdays navigation of this interchange and the approaches can be very tense.  North of the interchange, US 29 is the key arterial serving the thickening northern suburbs of Charlottesville.  Seeing this as a problem, VDOT, in the late 1990s, widened US 29 from four to sox or eight lanes for approximately five miles from the bypass to near the Rivanna River. (1)

Just north of US 250, the original Semionle Trail leaves US 29 at Secondary Route 743/Hydraulic Road.  Route 743 parallels US 29 to the east until Ruckersville.  This is an original alignment of US 29 and the Seminole Trail until 1933 when both designatiosn were moved to today's routing.  More detail on the old alignment can be found here.
US 29 South @ the Charlottesville Bypass
About 1990, plans were announced to build a larger US 29 bypass of Charlottesville.  Numerous alignments and improvements were proposed to the east, west, and northwest of the city.  The route chosen is a six mile four-lane roadway running from a southern terminus on the current US 29 bypass, between US 250 and Barracks Road, to a northern terminus at the current US 29 near the Rivanna, north of Charlottesville.  During the late 1990s, lawsuits were filed to block the bypass, which will only have interchanges at the north and south termini.  Many of these lawsuits were either dropped or ruled against in the litigation process.  A few sections of the bypass have been funded and design work completed. (2)  There has been no construction on the new highway thus far. 

Site Navigation:

  • North Towards Warrenton
  • South through Nelson and Amherst Counties
  • US 29 Index
  • Old Dominion Roads

    • Sources & Links:

  • (1) Charlottesville Downtown Foundation. "Historical Downtown Mall." Charlottesville Downtown Foundation. http://www.cvilledowntown.org/mall.html (Feb. 8, 2003)
  • (2) Kozel, Scott M. "US-29 Charlottesville Bypass." Roads to the Future. http://www.roadstothefuture.com/US29_Charlottesville_Bypass.html (Feb. 7. 2003)
  • US 29 @ Virginia Highways Project ---Michael Roberson/Adam Froehlig
  • Charlottesville Downtown Foundation
  • City of Charlottesville, Virginia

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    Page Created: February 8, 2003
    Last Updated: February 12, 2006

    (C) 2003-06 Adam Prince