Kings Highway Bridge

Kings Highway Bridge is located on the Nansemond River in the independent city of Suffolk, Virginia, United States. Built in 1928, for many years, it carried traffic on the Kings Highway, also known as State Route 125 for over 75 years. The drawbridge, opened in 1928, was deemed unsafe and closed to traffic in March 2005 by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT). In March 2007, VDOT announced that the bridge would be demolished and removed, and that the agnecy has no plans to replace it. The bridge was removed later in the year. In 2008, several boats struck debris from the old bridge. [http://hamptonroads.com/2008/09/debris-snags-2-boats-near-kings-highway-bridge-site]

About 3,300 motorists a day used the bridge that connected Chuckatuck and Driver. Now, they face detours of as much as 19 miles. The cost of a new bridge for the King's Highway crossing is estimated at $48 million, far more than could be recovered through collection of tolls at that location. [http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?story=103770&ran=180217]

In modern times, the Hampton Roads region of Virginia has faced increasing transportation challenges as it has become largely urbanized, with additional traffic needs, and as infrastructure originally built with toll revenues has aged without a source of funding to repair them or build replacements. The Kings Highway Bridge and the Jordan Bridge in neighboring Chesapeake, each built in the 1920s, are considered locally prime examples of this situation.