The Virginian-Pilot
©
Military Highway takes its name from the major presence of military installations and personnel in the region and was built for military access, at least initially.
The road was built, at a cost of $2.6 million in state and federal funds, as a military access highway and was opened to only the military in 1942, said Norfolk city historian Peggy Haile McPhillips.
The road was intended to provide a thoroughfare from Norfolk Naval Station to the shipyard in Portsmouth and auxiliary landing fields that were planned in the old Princess Anne County, according to McPhillips' research. The road linked Bowers Hill, Virginia Beach Boulevard, Little Creek Road and Taussig Boulevard at Granby Street.
Today, Military Highway intersects at its northernmost point with Little Creek Road in Norfolk and runs through Virginia Beach and Chesapeake to Suffolk.
It had a cloverleaf and overpass layout at Virginia Beach Boulevard, called the first of its kind in southeast Virginia, she said.
When the road opened to the public in 1943, the city estimated that about 10,000 cars used it daily.
In 1959, Janaf opened as a commercial shopping area. The name stands for Joint Army Navy Air Force and was an acronym for the original investors, a group of retired and active-duty military, according to the center's Web site.
The Gallery at Military Circle, originally known as Military Circle Mall, opened around 1970, according to The Virginian-Pilot's archive.
The area surrounding Military Highway in Norfolk has grown through the years into a commercial hub in the city, boasting several large national retailers and other shops and restaurants.
By 1990, McPhillips said, Military Highway was the busiest road, apart from interstates, in the city.
By the late 1990s, more than 63,000 vehicles used the road every day, according to McPhillips.
Cindy Clayton, (757) 446-2377, cindy.clayton@pilotonline.com
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Dubbed Suicide Strip
to the locals back in the day. there were even signs Dogs and sailors keep off the grass.
I think these snippets are
I think these snippets are interesting also. But, I am still waiting on clarification from last week's one on Ebony Heights! It would be very cool if the writer could research the questions and comments that arise from these little articles and do a follow up. Thanks!
Old Janaf Area
I was a nine when Janaf was built - used to climb the tree in my front yard in Lake Terrace and watch it from there. We used to be "out in the boon-docks" from Norfolk, and it was a pretty big deal to have a "giant" mall built there. Previously there had been a small plane landing strip there. Over across Virginia Beach Blvd., just east of Military Circle (which wasn't built yet) there was the old Giant Open Air Market, which really WAS open air. Then King's Dept. Store... And the teens in the area used Lowery Road as a 1/4 mile drag strip. At the corner of Lowery and Kempsville, if I remember correctly, there was a little race track with, was it go-carts? or small amateur race cars? Admiralty Acres was still new, as was Fairlawn Estates... The road coming out of Fairlawn Estates onto Va. Beach Blvd. at the light (starts with a "B"), had the only "convenience store" back then - Klop's. No 7-11's in those days, so we'd walk ALL THE WAY down to Klop's to get a Tootsie Roll Pop or whatever. Wow, what memories this article brings back! Very pleasant ones, too...
JANAF
The storefronts of JANAF are in a long straight line because the property WAS an airfield before the shopping center. It was the site of the old Glenrock Airport.
Nice info... any news on the future plans for the road?
Nice article... some background I never new despite driving it for the last 30 years.
Any news on the future of the road? From Lowery Road, North through where it goes under I-64... it is way over capacity, particularly with Lowes, Home Depot, Target, Farm Fresh, and the WalMart Super Center all right near each other... every day and worse on weekends the traffic jam is horrible. Perhaps some help would be in improving the light timing.. but going down to 4 lanes in each direction to just 2 right where all the business is ... just makes a mess. I try to avoid the area and the stores because of the traffic there.
Any action from the City / State on that section of the road?
It's local history!
These articles about "what's in a name" are really interesting. I enjoy learning about local history. It's refreshing to be able to read something besides doom and gloom.
I must be getting really
I must be getting really old. As I recall, JANAF stood for "Joint Army Navy Air Field". That's the reason why the store fronts are aligned with the the runways of ORF (32/14) and NOB. In fact, I remember the area where Norfolk Vo-Tech is currently located used to be the Norfolk County Farm. Across Military HWY where Home Depot now sits was the Norfolk county landfill near Broadcreek.
MJC and ETHAN
MJC - circulation is down for many printed media. More news is being obtained over the internet and the several 24/7 newschannels on cable/sat TV.
FM radio stations are loosing listeners also. Thank the iPOD for that. AM radion station listeners may be increasing...at least on the local level...for weather/traffic news.
ETHAN - concur. I'm curious about that one also.
Lighten up dude (MJC) ....
This is a fun column to read amongst all the horrible stuff going on ...
I've been here 40 years and never knew Military Circle Mall was "The Gallery at Military Circle" .... locals just refer to it as "Military Circle".
I also never knew about Janaf. That was interesting trivia.
Seen this one
Hasn't this W.I.A.N been done before?