page_title: James River Bridge
section_title: Description of the current bridge
hierarchical_section_title: James River Bridge / Description of the current bridge
caption_attribution_description: English: The central portion of the James River Bridge, with vertical-lift span, at sunset.
context_page_description: The James River Bridge is a four-lane divided highway lift bridge across the James River in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Owned and operated by the Virginia Department of Transportation, it carries U.S. Route 17, US 258, and State Route 32 across the river near its mouth at Hampton Roads. The bridge connects Newport News on the Virginia Peninsula with Isle of Wight County in the South Hampton Roads region, and is the easternmost such crossing without a tunnel component.
  When completed in 1928, the 4.5-mile bridge was the longest bridge in the world over water. The original two-lane bridge was replaced from 1975 to 1982 with a wider four-lane bridge that could handle increased traffic volumes. In 2005, the bridge carried an annual average daily traffic of about 30,000 vehicles per day.
context_section_description: At the Newport News end, traffic approaches the bridge at a six-ramp partial cloverleaf interchange, where Mercury Boulevard (carrying U.S. Route 17, U.S. Route 258, and State Route 32 onto the bridge) passes over Warwick Boulevard (U.S. Route 60). After an intersection with River Road and the entrance to Huntington Park, the four-lane divided bridge begins, lying to the southeast a part of the old bridge that remains as a fishing pier. The 126.5 m (415.0 ft) lift span over the shipping channel, with a clearance of 44.1 m (145 ft) when raised and 18.2 m (59.7 ft) when lowered, is about 1/4 of the way along the 7.0714 km (4.3940 mi) bridge. This allows ocean-going ships to pass en route to civilian port facilities in Hopewell and at the Port of Richmond.
  The roadway becomes Carrollton Boulevard on the Isle of Wight County end; after a number of intersections, US 258 and SR 32 turn west at Bartlett towards State Route 10 at Benns Church, while US 17 curves southeast towards Portsmouth.
  The nearest upstream crossing of the James River is the Jamestown Ferry (State Route 31); the next fixed crossing is the 1966 Benjamin Harrison Bridge (State Route 156) at Hopewell. When the bridge opened in 1928, the next bridge upstream was the 1913 Mayo Bridge in Richmond.
  Downstream, both crossings of Hampton Roads are bridge-tunnels for military reasons: the 1992 Monitor-Merrimac Bridge-Tunnel (Interstate 664) and 1957 Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel (Interstate 64/U.S. Route 60).
  Bicycles, mopeds, and pedestrians are banned from using the bridge; the easternmost crossing for them is the Jamestown Ferry, about 25 miles (40 km) upstream. The State Highway and Transportation Commission banned these transportation modes from using the bridge in 1978 "in the interest of safety", due to high traffic and lack of sidewalks. Once the replacement bridge was completed, they returned to the question in 1983, and decided to continue the ban, since the new bridge also had no sidewalks or sufficient recovery area.
caption: The current bridge's lift span at sunset
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