State Route 278 (SR 278) is a primary

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either Route number, numbered or maintained by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered ...

in the U.S. state of

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. Known as King Street, the state highway runs from

U.S. Route 258 U.S. Route 258 (US 258) is a spur of US 58 in the U.S. states of North Carolina and Virginia. The U.S. Highway runs from US 17 Business and NC 24 Business in Jacksonville, North Carolina north to Virginia State Route 143 (SR 143) at Fort M ...

(US 258) north to an entrance to

Langley Air Force Base Langley Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located in Hampton, Virginia, adjacent to Newport News. It was one of thirty-two Air Service training camps established after the entry of the United States into World War I in April 1 ...

within the

independent city An independent city or independent town is a city or town that does not form part of another general-purpose local government entity (such as a province). Historical precursors In the Holy Roman Empire, and to a degree in its successor states ...

Hampton Hampton may refer to: Places Australia *Hampton bioregion, an IBRA biogeographic region in Western Australia * Hampton, New South Wales *Hampton, Queensland, a town in the Toowoomba Region * Hampton, Victoria ** Hampton railway station, Melbour ...

Route description

SR 278 begins at a

diamond interchange A diamond interchange is a common type of road junction, used where a controlled-access highway crosses a minor road. Design The freeway itself is grade separation, grade-separated from the minor road, one crossing the other over a bridge. ...

with US 258 (Mercury Boulevard). King Street continues south as an unnumbered street toward downtown Hampton. The state highway heads north as a five-lane road with a

center left-turn lane A reversible lane, also known as variable lane, dynamic lane, and tidal flow, is a managed lane in which traffic may travel in either direction, depending on certain conditions. Typically, it is meant to improve traffic flow during rush hours, ...

through a residential area. SR 278 loses the center turn lane at Little Back River Road and becomes two lanes at Lamington Road. The state highway gains an additional lane northbound before reaching its northern terminus at a gate for Langley Air Force Base. North of the gate, the roadway crosses the Back River to reach the main body of the military installation.

Major intersections

References

External links

{{Attached KML, display=title,inline
Virginia Highways Project: VA 278
State Route 278

278 __NOTOC__ Year 278 ( CCLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Probus and Lupus (or, less frequently, year 1031 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 27 ...