Virginia State Route 143

Infobox road
state=VA
type=
route=143
length_mi=35
length_ref=Fact|date=February 2007
length_round=0
established=mid-1940s
direction_a=West
direction_b=East
starting_terminus=
junction=
ending_terminus=
previous_type=
previous_route=142
next_type=
next_route=144

State Route 143 is a primary state highway in the Virginia Peninsula region of Hampton Roads, Virginia, United States. It runs from a junction with Interstate 64 (exit 238) near Camp Peary in York County to U.S. Route 258 on Fort Monroe in the Phoebus area of the independent city of Hampton.

Route 143 very generally parallels Interstate 64 from Williamsburg to the Chesapeake Bay. Known through much of York County and James City County as Merrimack Trail, for a large portion of the highway in the independent city of Newport News, the roadway is known as Jefferson Avenue, and it intersects Interstate 64 again near the Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport (exit 255).

Most of the current Route 143 was formerly part of State Route 168, which was built with state funds in the 1930s before creation of the Interstate Highway System. In the Peninsula area, Route 168 provided much-needed relief for older, heavily traveled U.S. Route 60.

In Newport News, from downtown on westward to just past Denbigh Blvd, Jefferson Avenue is a 6-lane road divided by a median. From that point, the road narrows to a 4-lane road all the way until it intersects with Second St. in Williamsburg. There, Merrimack Trail goes off to the right as a 2-lane road. When it meets with the beginning of State Route 5, the road is four lanes wide to its intersection with Interstate 64 and the entrance to Camp Peary.

References

External links

* [http://www.vahighways.com/route-log/va141-160.htm#va143 Virginia Highways Project: VA 143]