John B. Whealton Memorial Causeway

John B. Whealton Memorial Causeway
Whealton Memorial Causeway viewed from Chincoteague Island
Coordinates	37°56′06″N 75°25′07″W / 37.935°N 75.41849°W / 37.935; -75.41849
Carries	Two lanes of SR 175
Locale	Chincoteague, Virginia
Characteristics
Total length	4.3 miles (6.9 km)
No. of lanes	2
History
Opened	November 15, 1922
Location

The John B. Whealton Memorial Causeway, more commonly known to the locals as the Chincoteague Causeway, connects the mainland of the Eastern Shore to Chincoteague, where it continues into town as Maddox Boulevard. The causeway is part of State Route 175 (Chincoteague Road). The causeway contains five bridges and crosses the following (west to east):^[1][2]

• Mosquito Creek via the Mosquito Creek Fixed Bridge
• Cockle Creek via the Cockle Creek Fixed Bridge
• Queen Sound via the Queen Sound Fixed Bridge
• Wire Narrows via the Wire Narrows Fixed Bridge
• Black Narrows and Lewis Creek Channel via the Chincoteague Channel Drawbridge and Marsh Island Connector

The original causeway contained six bridges. The route crossed the Black Narrows and Chincoteague Channel via separate bridges which took the causeway across Marsh Island, landing in town between Mumford and Cleveland Streets. The former a fixed bridge, the latter a swing bridge, they were both removed in late 2010 after the construction of the new bridge. The Marsh Island Connector is a short spur bridge connecting the Marsh Island community to the new bridge. The spur joins the main bridge at a T-intersection over the water, and is a rare example of a three-way bridge.