U.S. Virgin Islands Highway 20

Highway 20 marker

Highway 20
North Shore Road
Route information
Maintained by Virgin Islands Department of Public Works
Length: 6.78 mi[1] (10.91 km)
Due to configuration of road, Route 20 is 6.7 miles westbound and 7.2 miles eastbound
Existed: c.1952[2] – present
Major junctions
West end: Hwy 10 in Cruz Bay
  Hwy 206 near Cinnamon Bay
East end: Hwy 10 in Virgin Islands National Park
Highway system
USVI Highways

Highway 20, or North Shore Road is a road on St. John.

Route description

The route begins at Highway 10 in the center of Cruz Bay. Highway 20 runs along the northern shore of St. John, passing through Virgin Islands National Park. The road serves many popular beaches, including Cinnamon Bay and Trunk Bay. The highway travels along the coast for most of its length, and has several turnouts for scenic overlooks. The roadway begins to bend into the center of the island, in the process passing several small houses and buildings. Highway 20 has one auxiliary route along its length, Highway 206.[1]

The configuration of the eastern portion of the highway

Highway 20 has an unusual configuration near its eastern terminus. Near Highway 10, the road splits into two. The northern section, carrying eastbound traffic heads toward the eastern shore, but abruptly ends at an unnumbered road. Traffic wishing to continue on Highway 20 must make a 45 degree turn and continue westbound to meet the other stretch of road. Traffic heading west on Highway 20 simply turns left onto the southern branch and rejoins eastbound traffic a short distance later. This discrepancy causes the mileage of the road to change depending on which direction the road is traveled. After passing through the unusual configuration, the roadway proceeds southeastward. It passes through the center of the island, until its reaches its eastern terminus, an intersection with Highway 10 near the island's south shore.[3]

Major intersections

The entire route is located on the island of Saint John.

Locationmi[1]kmDestinationsNotes
Cruz Bay0.000.00 Hwy 10Western terminus
Virgin Islands National Park4.166.69 Hwy 206Northern terminus of VI 206
6.7810.91 Hwy 10Eastern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

Auxiliary route

Highway 206
Location: Hwy 10, Virgin Islands National Park Hwy 20, Cinnamon Bay
Length: 1.3 mi[4] (2.1 km)

Highway 206 (John Head Road) is a road on St. John, USVI. It is an auxiliary route of Highway 20. Running just over a mile from Highway 20 south to Highway 10, the road serves a few residential dwellings and as a connector between the two main roads on St. John.

References

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 3 Google (April 8, 2013). "Overview Map of Virgin Islands Highway 20" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved April 8, 2013.
  2. Noe & Sunderland p. 100
  3. Virgin Islands National Park (Map) (2013 ed.). 1 in=0.6 mi. Cartography by National Park Service. National Park Service. 2013.
  4. Windows Live Local

Bibliography

Route map: Bing / Google

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, February 26, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.