page_title: Virginia State Route 143
section_title: Route description
hierarchical_section_title: Virginia State Route 143 / Route description
caption_attribution_description: English: View west along Virginia State Route 143 (Capitol Landing Road) at Virginia State Route 5 in Williamsburg, Virginia
context_page_description: State Route 143 is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of Virginia. The state highway runs 35.39 miles from Camp Peary near Williamsburg east to U.S. Route 258 at Fort Monroe in Hampton. SR 143 is a major local thoroughfare on the Virginia Peninsula portion of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. The state highway is named Merrimac Trail through the independent city of Williamsburg and adjacent portions of York County and James City County. SR 143 follows Jefferson Avenue through the city of Newport News from the Williamsburg area past Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail to near 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 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.
context_section_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 two lanes, crosses Colonial Parkway with no access, and re-enters York County by crossing an unnamed creek.
  SR 143 becomes a five-lane road with center turn lane at its intersection with SR 162 (2nd Street).  The state highway heads southeast and enters James City County at its intersection with SR 641 (Penniman Road).  SR 143 begins to closely parallel the north side of CSX's Peninsula Subdivision, which is itself paralleled by US 60 (Pocahontas Trail) to the south; the center turn lane becomes a 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.
  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.
  SR 143 veers away from I-64 and expands to a six-lane divided highway at Kings Ridge Drive.  The state highway intersects SR 173 (Denbigh Boulevard) east of the namesake community and north of Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport, which is accessed by Bland Boulevard.  Southeast of the airport, SR 143 crosses to the south side of I-64 at a cloverleaf interchange adjacent to Patrick Henry Mall.  The state highway intersects SR 171 (Oyster Point Road) and passes through an industrial and commercial area that includes the Jefferson Lab (Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility) and the City Center at Oyster Point.  South of the city center, SR 143 intersects J. Clyde Morris Boulevard, which heads northeast as part of US 17 toward Yorktown and west as SR 312.  SR 143 and US 17 run concurrently southeast through junctions with 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.
  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 maint
caption: View west along SR 143 at SR 5 in Williamsburg
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