Skip to main content

Nelson County, Virginia gets their first traffic light

Adam Froehlig passed along an article to me today about Nelson County, Virginia getting their first ever traffic signal. It will be on US 29 in Lovingston and will be functional sometime in March of this year. It is also the first traffic light on US 29 from Madison Heights to Charlottesville. Coincidentally, a McDonalds has recently opened in Lovingston which is the first fast food restaurant to open in Nelson County.

If you have ever been on this stretch of US 29, you will have to say it is extremely beautiful. It rolls through gorgeous country side. The Blue Ridge Mountains are to your east. In Lovingston, Peebles Mountain (elv. 1826') rises above the small village for a dramatic scene. US 29 through this part of Virginia is one of my all time favorite drives. I usually try to pop a Dave Matthews CD in through here and the music almost always fits perfectly.

I found it amazing that this would be Nelson County's first traffic signal. It is amazing that the county has gone this far into the auto age without one. There are not many of these counties left anywhere along the East Coast. And also because Nelson County is really not that far from cities like Charlottesville, Roanoke, Richmond, and Washington, D.C. , it is amazing how much country there still is out there.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I believe that Hamilton County here in New York doesn't have any traffic lights either. Perhaps in Indian Lake, but even there I don't think they have any signals.

Popular posts from this blog

Abandoned US Route 40 in the Truckee River Canyon

Within the Truckee River Canyon in the Sierra Nevada range numerous abandoned portions of US Route 40 can be found alongside modern Interstate 80.   This segment of highway was opened during 1926 as a bypass of the Dog Valley Grade which carried the early North Lincoln Highway and Victory Highway. The corridor of the Truckee River Canyon State Highway would be assigned as US Route 40 when the US Route System was commissioned during November 1926. During 1958 the segment of Interstate 80 between Boca, California and the Nevada state line was complete. When Interstate 80 opened east of Boca numerous obsolete portions of US Route 40 were abandoned. Some of these abandoned segments have been incorporated into the Tahoe-Pyramid Trail.  Part 1; the history of US Route 40 in the Truckee River Canyon The Truckee River Canyon for centuries has been an established corridor of travel known to native tribes crossing the Sierra Nevada range.  The first documented wagon crossi...

Former US Route 50 and the Pioneer Route Lincoln Highway on Johnson's Pass Road

Johnson's Pass Road is one of the oldest highway corridors in California.  Johnson's Pass was part of the Lake Tahoe Wagon Road as it was completed during 1856 over the Sierra Nevada.  The pass would later be incorporated into the Pioneer Branch of the Lincoln Highway in 1913 and US Route 50 in 1926.  Johnson's Pass Road would be bypassed by a new alignment of US Route 50 over Echo Summit in 1938.  A replacement of the Meyers Grade east of Johnson's Pass would be opened to traffic in 1947.   Johnson's Pass Road remains accessible to traffic and is still signed by the Lincoln Highway Association.  Pictured as the blog cover is the view from the top of Johnson's Pass Road overlooking modern US Route 50 and Lake Tahoe.   Part 1; the history of Johnson's Pass Much of the history of what become the Lake Tahoe Wagon Road is discussed in the  September 1950 California Highways & Public Works  during its Centennial Edition.  The or...

Former US Route 50 and the South Lincoln Highway from Folsom east to Placerville

The corridor of Folsom of Sacramento County east to Placerville of El Dorado County has been a long established corridor of overland travel dating back to the California Gold Rush.  The Folsom-Placerville corridor was once part of the path of the Lake Tahoe Wagon Road which became the first California State Highway and later the South Lincoln Highway.  In time the South Lincoln Highway's surface alignment was inherited by US Route 50.  The Folsom-Placerville corridor also includes the communities of; Clarksville, Shingle Springs and El Dorado. Part 1; the history of the Lake Tahoe Wagon Road, South Lincoln Highway and US Route 50 through Folsom-Placerville Folsom is located on the American River/Lake Natoma of eastern Sacramento County.  That lands now occupied by the City of Folsom were part of Rancho Rio de los Americanos prior to the finding of gold at Sutter's Mill during 1848.  During the California Gold Rush the lands of Rancho Rio de los Americanos were p...