| Twenty-five
years later, US 29 would be moved to the east of downtown and of historic
Main Street. In 1998, US 29 was placed on the Danville Expressway
(former VA 265) and Dan Daniel Memorial Highway. The former Bypass
US 29 was now named Business US 29, and the original US 29 became VA 293.
On VA 293, the highway crosses over the Dan River on an open
spandrel rib arch bridge built in 1927. Also in 1998, the
Danville Expressway and Bypass received 'Future' I-785 corridor shields
along with the US 29 designation. (2) Eventually, Interstate 785
will continue South into North Carolina to Greensboro. US 29 now
enters into Virginia as a freeway, and for years motorists found the highway
as a very involved construction site. Much of the construction going
on at the time was for the western half of the Danville
Bypass that now carries US 58. While the freeway was being expanded
west, additional work was done to the Dan Daniel Memorial Highway -- the
northeast segment of the bypass. The construction project upgraded
the highway to four lanes of limited-access freeway. The project
which included four new bridges was completed in late 2003. (3)
There remains some slight highway upgrades needed to the US 29 freeway bypass of Danville. Just north and east of its junction with US 58 at the State Line, there had a been a series of at-grade intersections. Slowly, the grade crossings have been removed - and to be replaced with future interchange. One such instance occurs at Elizabeth Street. (See photo at right) Stub ramps for the future interchange are in place, but there are currently no plans to improve the intersection to a full diamond interchange. |
US 29 Business near Central Danville.
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