U.S. Route 250
Route information
Auxiliary route of US 50
Length:	514 mi (827 km)
Existed:	1928 – present
Major junctions
West end:	US 6 in Sandusky, OH
	I-80 / I-90 / Ohio Tpk. near Milan, OH I-71 near Ashland, OH US 30 near Wooster, OH I-77 near Strasburg, OH I-70 / WV 2 in Wheeling, WV I-79 near Fairmont, WV US 33 / US 219 near Elkins, WV I-81 near Staunton, VA I-64 near Waynesboro, VA US 29 in Charlottesville, VA US 33 in Richmond, VA
East end:	US 60 in Richmond, VA
Highway system
United States Numbered Highways List • Bannered • Divided • Replaced

U.S. Route 250 (US 250) is a route of the United States Numbered Highway System, and is a spur of U.S. Route 50. It currently runs for 514 miles (827 km) from Sandusky, Ohio to Richmond, Virginia. It passes through the states of Virginia, West Virginia, and Ohio. It goes through the cities of Richmond, Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, Staunton, Virginia, and Wheeling, West Virginia. West of Pruntytown, West Virginia, US 250 intersects and forms a short overlap with its parent US 50. In West Virginia, the route is signed north–south. In Ohio and Virginia, the route is signed east–west.

Route description[link]

Ohio[link]

In Ohio, U.S. 250 is an important cross-state corridor linking Sandusky (on Lake Erie) to Bridgeport (on the Ohio River). From a regional/traffic perspective, the route can roughly be divided into four sections linking major regions and routes of the state:

• US 6 in Sandusky to US 20 at Norwalk
• US 20 at Norwalk to US 30 at Wooster
• US 30 at Wooster to I-77 at Strasburg
• I-77 at New Philadelphia to US 22 at Cadiz
• US 22 at Cadiz to I-70 at Bridgeport

Sandusky to Norwalk[link]

U.S. Route 250 begins in Sandusky, Ohio at an intersection with U.S. Route 6 (Cleveland Road). It begins carrying the name Sycamore Line, but US 250 leaves this road shortly for Milan Road. This part of the route carries much traffic connecting to the Ohio Turnpike, and during the summer, people bound for Cedar Point. It is the most heavily developed section of the road, lined with big box stores, a regional shopping mall, an outlet mall, and numerous hotels, indoor waterparks and restaurants.

US 250 crosses Ohio Route 2 as it travels south and eventually crosses the Ohio Turnpike on Interstate 90 and Interstate 80. It then picks up Ohio State Route 13 before passing west of Milan. After a short stretch, it enters Norwalk on Milan Avenue. It turns onto League Street and travels southwest to Whittlesey Avenue, which becomes Benedict Avenue as the street travels southeast through the center of the city.

Norwalk to Wooster[link]

Much of this section of the route is rural, but carries a high level of truck and regular traffic. US 250 exits Norwalk and crosses US 20/SR 18 (Norwalk Bypass) at a diamond interchange. The route heads in a generally southeasterly direction until Fitchville, where it enters on Wooster Street. SR 13 finally separates from US 250 before the latter turns onto Mill Street Extension, turning south off said road shortly after.

US 250 continues southeast until it meets SR 60, and the two routes enter Savannah on North Main Street and pass straight through town. They continue together toward Ashland, where it meets an intersection with Cottage Street. SR 60 continues south on Cottage Street, while US 250 turns east, meeting US 42 east of the city and forming an overlap as it turns south. Upon meeting Main Street, US 250 leaves US 42 at an interchange and turns east. It passes through sparse development outside the city until it interchanges with Interstate 71.

US 250 continues east on Ashland Road in open countryside, passing through small communities. West of Wooster, US 250 enters US 30, carrying the name Lincoln Way, and bypasses the city to the south, exiting at a partial cloverleaf interchange which sends it south on SR 83. US 250 then turns east on Dover Road south of the city.

Wooster to Strasburg[link]

On Dover Road, US 250 follows a two-lane alignment as it passes through mostly open fields on its path to Strasburg. The route forms the main streets of several communities as it passes through them, such as Apple Creek, Mount Eaton, and Wilmot. It intersects OH 21 just before entering town, which it does on Wooster Avenue. This densely-populated stretch of US 250 in Strasburg has been proposed for a bypass, but the project has not been selected for further work as of 2008.^[1]

After passing through Strasburg, US 250 enters Interstate 77. The two routes then travel south overlapped with one another.

New Philadelphia to Cadiz[link]

Interstate 77 and US 250 travel in a southern direction until reaching New Philadelphia. The two highways form a bypass of the city, with the concurrency forming the west side and US 250 along forming the south side, as Interstate 77 separates from US 250 in the southeast corner of the city. OH 800 joins the freeway at Broadway outside of New Philadelphia as it follows the Dennison/Uhrichsville freeway bypass of US 250. The two routes follow a four-lane, divided highway toward Uhrichsville, where US 250/SR 800 turns west at an interchange. At the end of the dual highway, SR 800 turns south toward Dennison, and US 250 turns north, following a two-lane, curvy alignment en route to Cadiz.

Approximately half-way between Dennison and Cadiz, US 250 follows Tappan Lake for several miles on a series of causeways built during the construction of the lake by the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District in the 1930s. This route is generally of good quality (albeit without shoulders), although ODOT is studying replacement or upgrade through its Macro-Corridors Project.^[2] Near Cadiz, it merges onto the Cadiz Bypass, where it runs concurrent with US 22. It then turns onto Lincoln Avenue and passes through the city of Cadiz. US 250 then turns onto Market Street and follows it south out of town.

Cadiz to Bridgeport[link]

From Cadiz, US 250's name changes to Cadiz–Harrisville Road, heading south-southeast. Shortly after exiting the city, US 250 begins to curve and wind sharply, with several hairpin turns. For much of this distance, the road is surrounded by dense residential areas and runs on ridge tops. After it passes through Harrisville, the road becomes less curvy but is fronted densely with homes for almost the remainder of its route within the state, save the forest at its south end, where it features another hairpin curve. It continues southeast to Bridgeport, where it features a partial interchange with OH 7. US 250 then joins US 40 and crosses the Ohio River into West Virginia.

The poor alignment of this section of the highway, along with the fact that it runs through Cadiz as opposed to bypassing it, limits the usefulness of this section of the road as a through route. To resolve these issues, the Ohio Department of Transportation is developing plans to construct a Super 2 replacement for this route. A bypass of Cadiz was planned for construction in 2004,^[3] although it has not been built as of 2008. The new route is to roughly parallel OH 9 and OH 331, running from Cadiz to a point near Saint Clairsville. At this point, it is expected that US 250 will be realigned to follow I-70 east to Wheeling, West Virginia.

West Virginia[link]

US 250 at I-470 near Wheeling, West Virginia.

U.S. 250's northern entrance into West Virginia is via the Military Order of the Purple Heart Bridge from Bridgeport, Ohio onto Wheeling Island. It is briefly co-signed with U.S. Route 40. The route additionally co-signs with Interstate 70 and crosses the Ohio River on the Fort Henry Bridge in Wheeling, West Virginia. U.S. Route 250 then exits I-70 east of the Wheeling Tunnel and joins West Virginia Route 2 one mile (1.6 km) later. In Moundsville, West Virginia, the route leaves WV 2 and departs toward Cameron, Mannington, and Fairmont. It finally intersects with its parent route, U.S. Route 50, in Grafton and continues southward. The route moves through Philippi, and finally through Elkins. U.S. Route 250 intersects with U.S. Route 33 and U.S. Route 219 briefly in Elkins, which is the last major hub before U.S. Route 250 winds its way through the Appalachian Mountains to the Virginia border.

U.S. 250 in West Virginia includes the Philippi Covered Bridge at Philippi, the only covered bridge on the United States Numbered Highway System.

Virginia[link]

US 250 runs 166.74 miles (268.34 km) from the West Virginia state line near Hightown east to its eastern terminus at US 360 in Richmond. US 250 is the main east–west highway of Highland County, which is known as Virginia's Little Switzerland; the highway follows the path of the 19th century Staunton and Parkersburg Turnpike. From Staunton east to Richmond, the U.S. Highway serves as the local complement to Interstate 64 (I-64), roughly following the 18th century Three Notch'd Road through Waynesboro and Charlottesville on its way through the Shenandoah Valley, its crossing of the Blue Ridge Mountains at Rockfish Gap, and the Piedmont. In the Richmond metropolitan area, US 250 is known as Broad Street, a major thoroughfare through the city's West End and downtown areas.

History[link]

Earlier roads, funding conflicts[link]

Between Short Pump and Staunton, U.S. 250 largely follows the routing of the Three Notch'd Road (or the Three Chopt Road),^[4] which had been established in the Colony of Virginia between Richmond and the Shenandoah Valley by the 1740s.^[5] Most likely, the road followed an ancient Monacan trail from Orapax (east of Richmond) to the western Shenandoah Valley. This well-planned route required only one major river crossing, the Rivanna at Charlottesville, with inns or taverns spaced about 10 miles (16 km) apart.

The route west of Staunton was built about 100 years later as a toll road, the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike. In the second quarter of the 19th century, it became a major gateway into Virginia's "Trans-Allegheny" region, which presented much greater challenges to transportation than did less rugged portions of the state. In that region, navigable waterways were unavailable and canals impractical. Wheeled vehicles in the form of wagons, and later, motor vehicles needed to pass through with passengers and freight. It became part of the main trade route for salt and other commodities in the early 19th century. As the American Civil War broke out, the route became very important and was defended by Stonewall Jackson's troops at the Battle of McDowell in 1862.

The portion of the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike west of Allegheny Mountain (almost all of it) became part of West Virginia in 1863. Virginia's pre-War debt became a major issue after the American Civil War, as millions of dollars of debt remained for infrastructure improvements, some of which were now located in the new state of West Virginia, including most of the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike. Political divisions in Virginia on this issue resulted in creation of a new major political group in the late 1870s, the Readjuster Party, a coalition of Democrats, Republicans, and African-Americans seeking a reduction in Virginia's prewar debt by allocating an appropriate portion to the new State of West Virginia.

For several decades, Virginia and West Virginia disputed the new state's share of the Virginia government's debt. The issue was finally settled in 1915, when the United States Supreme Court ruled that West Virginia owed Virginia $12,393,929.50. The final installment of this sum was paid off in 1939.^[6]

U.S. Highway system, numbering[link]

U.S. Route 250 was created in 1928 and was originally routed from U.S. Route 50 in Grafton, West Virginia north/west to Norwalk, Ohio. In 1932, the route was expanded west to Sandusky, Ohio. In 1934, the route was expanded southward and eastward to Richmond, Virginia.^[7]

References[link]

Browse numbered routes
← WV 230	list	WV 251 →

Elliott Sadler
Born	(1975-04-30) April 30, 1975 (age 37) Emporia, Virginia, United States
Achievements	1983–1984 Virginia State Karting Championship North Carolina Gold Cup 1991–1992 1995 South Boston Speedway Track Champion
Awards	2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series Most Popular Driver
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career
430 race(s) run over 14 year(s)
Best finish	9th - 2004
First race	1998 Coca-Cola 600 (Charlotte)
Last race	2012 Daytona 500 (Daytona)
First win	2001 Food City 500 (Bristol)
Last win	2004 Pop Secret 500 (California)
Wins Top tens Poles 3 69 8
NASCAR Nationwide Series career
175 race(s) run over 15 year(s)
Car no., team	No. 2 (Richard Childress Racing)
2011 position	2nd
Best finish	2nd – 2011
First race	1995 Ford Credit 300 (South Boston)
Last race	2012 History 300 (Charlotte)
First win	1997 Core States Advantage 200 (Nazareth)
Last win	2012 Ford EcoBoost 300 (Bristol)
Wins Top tens Poles 7 71 13
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career
20 race(s) run over 5 year(s)
2011 position	87th
Best finish	24th – 2010
First race	2000 Kroger 200 (Richmond)
Last race	2011 Ford 200 (Homestead)
First win	2010 Pocono Mountains 125 (Pocono)
Wins Top tens Poles 1 10 2
Statistics current as of May 26, 2012.

Elliott William Barnes Sadler (born April 30, 1975) is an American stock car racing driver. He currently drives the No. 2 OneMain Financial Chevrolet Impala for Richard Childress Racing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. He is one of only 23 drivers to have won in each of NASCAR's top three series. Sadler was born in Emporia, Virginia, along with his older brother, Hermie Sadler, who is an announcer for Speed Channel.^[1]

1983–1995[link]

Sadler began racing in go-karts at the age of seven, and moved up to the Late Model stock car division at the local race track. His accomplishments include over 200 total wins, the 1983–84 Virginia State Karting Championship, and the North Carolina Gold Cup in 1991–92. He was runner-up in 1989 for the World Karting Association national title.^{[citation needed]}

When he turned 18, he moved to the Winston Racing Series and ran full-time beginning in 1993. That same year, he achieved his first victory. In 1995, he was crowned track champion at South Boston Speedway, winning 13 races including a 6-race winning streak.

Sadler attended James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia where he had a scholarship to play on the basketball team until he injured his knee, effectively ending his basketball career.

1999–2003[link]

Sadler moved up to the Cup Series full-time in 1999, driving the #21 Citgo Ford Taurus for Wood Brothers Racing. His best finish that year was tenth at Texas Motor Speedway, and he finished 24th in points, runner-up to Tony Stewart for Rookie of the Year honors. He also returned to the Nationwide Series on a part-time basis, filling in for the injured Andy Santerre for Innovative Motorsports, his best finish fifth at California Speedway. He also drove a handful of races for Lyndon Amick. Sadler's only top-ten finish in 2000 was tenth at Bristol, after failing to qualify at Talladega Superspeedway, and he dropped to twenty-ninth in points. He also had a wild flip at Michigan Speedway after cutting a tire in practice.

In 2001, Motorcraft became Sadler's new sponsor and he won his first career Cup race at Bristol. He had another top-ten run and finished 20th in points. After seven top-tens and a drop to 23rd in points in 2002, Sadler left for Robert Yates Racing to drive the #38 M&M's Ford. In his first season of competition with Yates, Sadler won the pole at Darlington Raceway and Talladega Superspeedway, and finished 22nd in points. In 2003, Sadler had a vicious crash at Talladega after near-contact with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and touched the right-front fender of Kurt Busch. Sadler's car flew into the air, flipped twice, landed on his roof, spun towards the banking, and flipped six times. Sadler emerged uninjured.

2004–2007[link]

Sadler started 2004 with a top-10 finish in the Daytona 500,and six races later won at Texas Motor Speedway for his 2nd career win. He stayed in the top-10 in points all season, and won at California Speedway, beating Kasey Kahne and Mark Martin. He made the Chase, and finished a career high ninth in the championship standings. He had another flip at Talladega after he spun out and blew over onto his roof. Sadler was uninjured, and he was even able to drive his car back to the garage.

Sadler failed to win again in 2005, but clinched four poles. He finished 13th in points. He also drove sixteen races for RYR's Busch car, the #90 Citifinancial Taurus, and had three top-five finishes. In 2006, Sadler won the pole at Talladega and finished 22nd in points. He made seven Busch starts, his best finish was second at Richmond. After a lack of results, Sadler left RYR midway through 2006 for Gillett Evernham Motorsports.

Before the start of the 2007 Daytona 500, Sadler was among many other drivers caught in a cheating scandal. Despite being docked 25 points, he still went on to score a season best 6th place finish. Sadler had many ups and downs throughout the season. In 2007, Sadler led 62 laps, posted two top-10 finishes and finished 25th in points. Sadler had the longest streak without a DNF than any other driver before failing to finish a race in 2007.

2008–2010[link]

2008 car

For the 2008 season, Sadler received new sponsorship; Best Buy for 15 races, Stanley Works for 13 races, McDonald's for 6 races, and Siemens for 2 races. He struggled in 2008, garnering only 2 top fives, 8 top tens, and 16 top twenties. He had 4 DNFs and 12 finishes of 30th or worse. Sadler led 21 laps in 2008, his fewest since the 2000 season. He ended the year 24th in the Sprint Cup Series standings.

On December 27, 2008, it was reported that A.J. Allmendinger would replace Sadler in the #19 Best Buy Dodge for Gillett Evernham Motorsports in 2009. Elliott threatened a lawsuit for breach of contract; however, the lawsuit was dropped after the GEM – Petty Enterprises merger and he returned to the ride for 2009.

After all of the offseason issues Sadler found himself in the #19 Stanley Tools Dodge for Richard Petty Motorsports in the 2009 Sprint Cup Series season. In the 2009 Daytona 500 Sadler took the lead on Lap 123 and stayed in the lead for the final stages in the race. On the last green flag lap Sadler got passed by Matt Kenseth and seconds later the caution came out. Kenseth wound up finishing first while Sadler came up in fifth. He ended the year 26th in the Sprint Cup Series standings.

In 2010 Sadler returned to RPM and run the #19 Ford with Stanley Tools sponsorship. During the year however, Sadler announced that he will be leaving the #19 Ford after the 2010 season. He ran a part-time schedule in the Camping World Truck Series in the #2 Hunt Brothers Pizza Chevrolet Silverado for Kevin Harvick Incorporated.^[2] In this ride, Sadler won his first NASCAR race in 6 years at Pocono in the Pocono Mountains 125 in July.

The next day Sadler was involved in a wreck where he hit the inside fence (a blind spot on the track, not well-recorded by video cameras) after being hit from behind by A.J. Allmendinger. Kurt Busch was hit from behind by Jimmie Johnson causing him to spin into Clint Bowyer who received little damage but still finished 12th. The wreck was so horrific it threw the engine away from the car and caused the race to be red flagged for 25 minutes to clean up the wreck. There were several reports by fans that his car flew through the air. With a grimace on his face, he climbed out of the car and laid down on the track. He was taken to the medical facility where he later emerged and gave an interview to on hand media personnel. He said he was fine & was a little sore, but had the breath knocked out of him and had taken "the hardest hit of his career" at Pocono. He was proud of his team back home that had built a safe car and of the pit crew and of all of the hard work they had put into the race thus far. On August 3, Elliott Sadler announced on NASCAR Now that NASCAR told him it was the hardest head-on crash ever recorded in NASCAR history. On November 5, 2010 Elliott Sadler won the pole for the AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway qualifying at 195.397, the fastest qualifying speed since 1999.

2011–2012[link]

Sadler racing at Road America in 2011

On November 5, 2010. Sadler announced a 2-year deal to drive the #2 OneMain Financial Chevrolet for Kevin Harvick Inc. in the Nationwide Series and also will drive a selected amount of races in the Camping World Truck Series. Sadler took the championship points lead in the Nationwide Series after the eleventh race in the 2011 season. He ended up finishing second in points with 24 top-ten finishes in 34 events.^[3]

Kevin Harvick Inc. closed at the end of the 2011 season; its Nationwide Series teams were absorbed by Richard Childress Racing, and Sadler will drive the No. 2 OneMain Financial Chevrolet for RCR during the 2012 Nationwide Series season. In addition, Sadler raced in the 2012 Daytona 500 for RCR in the No. 33 Chevrolet,^[4].

On March 3, 2012, Sadler won the Nationwide Series Bashas' Supermarkets 200 at Phoenix, his first win since October 31st, 1998 at North Carolina Motor Speedway, a span of 91 races.^[5][6]

Sadler had been announced on March 3 as the third driver of the Michael Waltrip Racing's No. 55 Toyota^[7], but the conflict in manufacturers - RCR running Chevrolet while MWR fields Toyotas - stopped the deal.^[8]

On March 17, Sadler won at Bristol, making this the first year since the mid-1990's that the first four NNS races have been won by non-Sprint Cup drivers. It also had Sadler winning two of the first four races of the season.

Personal life[link]

Sadler is heavily involved in the Autism Speaks charity because his niece Halie has the disorder. In 2008, Best Buy (his sponsor) sponsored the Best Buy 400 Benefiting Student Clubs of Autism Speaks at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Delaware. His car had a custom paint scheme specifically for that race. His hood and helmet were signed and auctioned off following the race, with the proceeds going to Autism Speaks.

He was the cover athlete on EA Sports NASCAR 07 and was also on the special edition NASCAR 09.

Elliott Sadler's wife, Amanda, gave birth to their first child, Wyatt Herman Frittz Sadler on February 15, 2010. They welcomed their second child, daughter Austyn Rose Sadler on November 7, 2011.

References[link]

• Elliott Sadler Bio
• Elliot Sadler going to Evernham Motorsports
• Evernham Motorsports confirms Elliot Sadler as driver at Michigan
• Doug Yates confirms Elliott Sadler is leaving
• Silly Saga: Elliot Sadler going to Evernham
• Allmendinger to replace Sadler in GEM's NO. 19

External links[link]

• Official website
• Elliott Sadler at Racing Reference
• Elliott Sadler at The Coca-Cola Racing Family
• Hermie & Elliott Sadler Foundation for Autism