Virginia State Route 143

State Route 143
State Route 143
Route information
	Maintained by VDOT
Length	35.39 mi (56.95 km)
Existed	mid-1940s–present
Major junctions
West end	Camp Peary near Williamsburg
	I-64 near Williamsburg; SR 199 near Williamsburg; I-64 in Newport News; US 258 / SR 32 in Newport News; I-664 in Newport News; US 60 in Hampton;
East end	US 258 at Fort Monroe in Hampton
Location
Country	United States
State	Virginia
Counties	York, City of Williamsburg, James City, City of Newport News, City of Hampton
Highway system
	Virginia Routes; Interstate; US; Primary; Secondary; Byways; History; HOT lanes;

State Route 143 (SR 143) is a primary

Downtown Newport News. The state highway, which mostly runs northwest–southeast, heads northeast from Newport News, serving as one highway connecting the downtown areas of Newport News and Hampton. SR 143 parallels both US 60 and Interstate 64 (I-64) extensively, and sometimes very closely, throughout its course. The state highway also runs concurrently with US 60 in Hampton and with US 17

in Newport News.

Route description

SR 143 begins at the entrance to Camp Peary in York County north of Williamsburg. The state highway heads south as Merrimac Trail, a four-lane

divided highway that meets I-64 at a partial cloverleaf interchange. SR 143 heads south through a forested area and meets the northern end of SR 132, which provides access to Colonial Williamsburg and, via Colonial Parkway, Jamestown and Yorktown. The state highway crosses Queen Creek into the city of Williamsburg and meets the northern end of SR 5 (Capitol Landing Road). East of the SR 5 intersection, SR 143 reduces to a two-lane undivided road, crosses Colonial Parkway with no access, and re-enters York County by crossing an unnamed creek.^[1]^[2]

SR 143 becomes a five-lane road with a

Peninsula Subdivision, which is itself paralleled by US 60 (Pocahontas Trail) to the south; the center left-turn lane becomes a left-turn lane exclusively for the eastbound direction of the highway. The two highways have mirror-image partial cloverleaf interchanges with SR 199 (Humelsine Parkway) as they re-enter York County. SR 143 passes between Williamsburg Country Club to the north and Busch Gardens Williamsburg to the south; the state highway does not have access to the theme park. Just east of the park, the westbound direction of the state highway receives an exit ramp from I-64.^[1]^[2]

SR 143 continues east into James City County as a four-lane undivided highway that closely parallels I-64 to the north and the railroad to the south while passing through a forested area. The state highway receives a ramp from eastbound I-64 shortly before crossing Mill Run into the city of Newport News, where the highway's name changes to Jefferson Avenue. Just east of the stream, there are ramps from eastbound SR 143 to eastbound I-64 and from westbound SR 143 to westbound I-64 as the state highway crosses to the north side of the Interstate. SR 143 intersects SR 238 (Yorktown Road), which provides access to and from I-64 in the direction of Hampton, near the Lee Hall area of the city. The state highway passes through Newport News Park and crosses the Lee Hall Reservoir before intersection SR 105 (Fort Eustis Boulevard) near Fort Eustis. The intersection is just east of SR 105's interchange with I-64; the ramps to and from westbound I-64 for access to SR 105 in the direction of Yorktown connect with SR 143 north and south of the interchange, respectively.^[1]^[2]

SR 143 veers away from I-64 and expands to a six-lane divided highway at Kings Ridge Drive. The state highway intersects

SR 306 (Harpersville Road) and SR 152 (Main Street) before diverging at Mercury Boulevard, a major east–west thoroughfare that carries US 258 and provides access to the James River Bridge. This intersection is also the northern terminus of SR 32.^[1]^[2]

SR 143 becomes a four-lane undivided highway at 40th Street, which is used to access SR 351 (39th Street). SR 351 passes over SR 143 just to the north of SR 143's partial interchange with I-664 (Hampton Roads Beltway), which includes ramps from eastbound SR 143 to southbound I-664 and from northbound I-664 to SR 143. The state highway becomes two lanes at 34th Street and maintains that profile southeast to 27th and 28th Streets, onto which the highway turns northeast as a one-way pair, with eastbound following 27th Street and westbound using 28th Street. This one-way pair is just north of US 60's one-way pair on 25th and 26th Streets. The one-way pair ends at Salters Creek, where the highway comes together as a four-lane divided highway passes through a sliver of the city of Hampton. SR 143 enters Hampton for good at Pear Avenue, where the highway continues as Victoria Boulevard.^[1]^[2]

SR 143 follows Victoria Boulevard through the

Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel to Norfolk. SR 143 continues southeast along two-lane County Street, turns southwest onto Libby Street for one block, then turns south on Mellen Street and intersects SR 169 (Mallory Street) within the Phoebus neighborhood. The state highway crosses the Mill Creek estuary as Ingalls Road and reaches its eastern terminus at its junction with US 258's (Mercury Boulevard) northern terminus at the entrance to Fort Monroe.^[1]^[2]

Major intersections

County	Location	mi^[1]	km	Destinations	Notes
York		0.00	0.00	Camp Peary	Western terminus
		0.24	0.39	I-64 – Newport News, Richmond	Exit 238 (I-64)
		0.84	1.35	Colonial Williamsburg Visitor Center
City of Williamsburg		1.43	2.30	SR 5 west (Capitol Landing Road)	Eastern terminus of SR 5
Colonial Williamsburg Visitor Center	Eastern terminus of SR 162
James City	No major junctions
I-64 – Newport News, Richmond, Yorktown, Jamestown, Busch Gardens, Downtown Williamsburg, Water Country USA, Colonial Parkway, Cheatham Annex	interchange
				I-64	Exit 243B (I-64), access from I-64 to SR 143 westbound only
James City	No major junctions
I-64 – Williamsburg, Richmond, Newport News, Hampton		Exit 247 (I-64); ramps from eastbound I-64 to SR 143, eastbound SR 143 to eastbound I-64, and westbound SR 143 to westbound I-64
		10.27	16.53	I-64 east – Lee Hall
		12.82	20.63	Fort Eustis Transportation Museum	Exit 250 (I-64); direct ramps between westbound I-64 and SR 143
		15.85	25.51	SR 173 (Denbigh Boulevard)
		17.84	28.71	I-64 – Hampton, Norfolk, Williamsburg, Richmond	Exit 255 (I-64)
		18.57	29.89	I-64	Western terminus of SR 171
		20.97	33.75	I-64 – Yorktown	West end of concurrency with US 17; eastern terminus of SR 312
		22.09	35.55	Harpersville Road ( SR 306 west)	Eastern terminus of SR 306
		23.78	38.27	Thomas Nelson Community College
		25.09	40.38	Downtown Newport News, Portsmouth	East end of concurrency with US 17; northern terminus of SR 32
				40th Street to I-664 north	interchange
		27.59	44.40	I-664 south / 35th Street – Suffolk	Exit 5 (I-664); ramps from eastbound SR 143 to southbound I-664 and from northbound I-664 to SR 143
				Jefferson Avenue / 28th Street to Newport News Marine Terminal	former SR 167 north
I-64		former SR 167
		32.59	52.45	US 60 west (Kecoughtan Road)	West end of concurrency with US 60
		32.98	53.08	SR 134 north (Armistead Avenue)	Southern terminus of SR 134
		34.11	54.89	I-64 / US 60 east – Williamsburg, Richmond, Norfolk, Virginia Beach	Exit 267 (I-64); east end of concurrency with US 60
				US 258
		34.70	55.84	I-64
		35.39	56.95	US 258 south / SR 143 Truck west (East Mercury Boulevard )	Eastern terminus; northern terminus of US 258
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Concurrency terminus Incomplete access