State Route 8 (SR 8) 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 ...

. The state highway runs from the

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

state line near Palmetto, where the highway continues south as North Carolina Highway 8 (NC 8), north to

U.S. Route 11 U.S. Route 11 or U.S. Highway 11 (US 11) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway extending across the eastern U.S. The southern terminus of the route is at US 90 in Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refu ...

(US 11) in Christiansburg. SR 8 is part of a two-state highway 8 system and is the main north–south highway of Patrick County, Floyd County, and southern Montgomery County, connecting their respective

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

s of

Stuart Stuart may refer to: People *Stuart (name), a given name and surname (and list of people with the name) * Clan Stuart of Bute, a Scottish clan *House of Stuart, a royal house of Scotland and England Places Australia Generally *Stuart Highway, ...

, Floyd, and Christiansburg with each other and with the

Blue Ridge Parkway The Blue Ridge Parkway is a National Parkway and National Scenic Byway, All-American Road in the United States, noted for its scenic beauty. The parkway, which is the longest linear park in the U.S., runs for through 29 counties in Virginia and ...

. The state highway also links the

New River Valley Virginia's New River Valley region, colloquially named, is a four-county area along the New River in Southwest Virginia in the United States, including such major features as Claytor Lake, part of the Jefferson National Forest, the city of Ra ...

region of Virginia with

Southside Virginia Southside, or Southside Virginia, has traditionally referred to the portion of the state south of the James River, the geographic feature from which the term derives its name. This was the first area to be developed in the colonial period. Dur ...

via US 58 and the

Piedmont Triad The Piedmont Triad (or simply the Triad) is a metropolitan region in the north-central part of the U.S. state of North Carolina anchored by three cities: Greensboro, North Carolina, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Winston-Salem, and ...

via NC 8.

Route description

SR 8 begins at the North Carolina state line near Palmetto. The road continues south as NC 8, which passes through Lawsonville on its way to

Winston-Salem Winston-Salem is a city in Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the fifth-most populous city in North Carolina and the 91st-most populous city in the Uni ...

. SR 8 heads northwest as Salem Highway, which meets the eastern end of SR 103 (Dry Pond Highway) in Five Forks. The state highway enters the town of Stuart by crossing the South Fork Mayo River. SR 8 follows South Main Street, first passing SR 8 Business, then Wood Brothers Drive. At Blue Ridge Street, the state highway turns west and joins US 58 Business on a concurrency west of the downtown area. Northwest of the town, SR 8 joins US 58 (Jeb Stuart Highway) north through a narrow creek valley to Cruzes Store. SR 8 continues northeast as Woolwine Highway through narrow creek valleys to an intersection with SR 57 (Fairystone Park Highway) near Buffalo Ridge. The state highway crosses the Smith River shortly before meeting the west end of SR 40 (Charity Highway) in Woolwine. East of Rocky Knob, the namesake of an

American Viticultural Area An American Viticultural Area (AVA) is a designated wine grape-growing region in the United States, providing an official appellation for the mutual benefit of winery, wineries and consumers. Winemakers frequently want their consumers to know abo ...

, SR 8 curvaceously ascends Blue Ridge Mountain to the

Eastern Continental Divide The Eastern Continental Divide, Eastern Divide or Appalachian Divide is a drainage divide, hydrological divide in eastern North America that separates the easterly Atlantic Seaboard drainage basin, watershed from the westerly Gulf of Mexico wat ...

at Tuggle Gap. At the gap, the state highway enters Floyd County and has an interchange with the Blue Ridge Parkway. SR 8 continues north as Parkway Lane to the county seat of Floyd, where the highway follows Locust Street and intersects

US 221 U.S. Route 221 (US 221) is a spur of U.S. Route 21. It travels from Perry, Florida, at US 19/ US 98/ US 27 Alternate to Lynchburg, Virginia, at US 29 Business ( Lynchburg Expressway). It travels through the st ...

(Main Street). The state highway traverses the West Fork of the

Little River Little River may refer to several places: Australia Streams New South Wales *Little River (Dubbo), source in the Dubbo region, a tributary of the Macquarie River * Little River (Oberon), source in the Oberon Shire, a tributary of Coxs River (Haw ...

and climbs over Wills Ridge south of the confluence of the rivers West and East forks. SR 8 crosses over the main stem of the river at the Montgomery county line, where the highway continues as Riner Road through the village of Riner in the Union Valley. The state highway enters the town of Christiansburg at its

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

Interstate 81 Interstate 81 (I-81) is a north–south (physically northeast–southwest) Interstate Highway in the eastern part of the United States. Its southern terminus is at Interstate 40, I-40 in Dandridge, Tennessee, Dandridge, Tennessee; its nort ...

. SR 8 follows Main Street to its northern terminus at US 11. US 11 heads west as Radford Street and north as Main Street to the center of the town.

History

SR 8 was included in the initial 1918 state highway system as part of State Route 23, which continued north to

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

via present U.S. Route 460. In the 1933 renumbering, SR 23 was renumbered State Route 8 because the number was used by U.S. Route 23. The short piece west from Rich Creek to West Virginia became part of U.S. Route 219 by 1937, and U.S. Route 460 replaced the entire route north of Christiansburg by 1947.

Major intersections

SR 8 Business

SR 8 Business (SR 8 Bus.) is a

special route In road transportation in the United States, a special route is a road in a numbered highway system that diverts a specific segment of related traffic away from another road. They are featured in many highway systems; most are found in the Inte ...

of SR 8 in the town of

. The route is a former alignment of SR 8 in downtown Stuart along Patrick Avenue and Blue Ridge Street (the latter of which is part of US 58 Bus.). The highway was designated after 2011 when a new alignment of SR 8 was constructed allowing the bypass of downtown Stuart especially by heavy truck traffic. The route begins at a signalized intersection with Salem Highway (SR 8) in a small commercial area immediately north of the South Mayo River. SR 8 Bus. and Patrick Avenue, after first heading east, immediately heads north paralleling SR 8. After about , the road travels uphill and curves towards the northeast. At the summit of the hill, SR 8 Bus. reaches Blue Ridge Street which carries US 58 Bus.; SR 8 Bus. turns northwest onto it and after a pair of 90-degree turns, enters the Stuart Uptown Historic District and passes the Patrick County Courthouse. SR 8 Bus. ends at an intersection with Wood Brothers Drive where SR 8 and US 58 Bus. continue together northwest.

References

External links

Virginia Highways Project: VA 8
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008 008, OO8, O08, or 0O8 may refer to: * "008", a fictional 00 Agent In Ian Fleming's James Bond novels and the derived films, the 00 Section of MI6 is considered the secret service's elite. A 00 (pronounced "Double O") is a field agent who ho ...

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