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presents

The Roads and Rails of Mercer County, WV /

CR 31

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Highway	Names	Start	Terminus	Length (km)
CR 31	Locust St., Asphalt Rd., Wabash Rd.	WV 104 (Rogers St.), Princeton	dead end	insignificant

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Overview

County Route 31 is a short but important vehicular link, serving as an access road between WV 104 in Princeton and US 460 Corridor Q. The route coincides with Locust Street, with an extension serving the facility of Conn-Weld Industries.

History

CR 31 is the lowest-numbered county highway in Mercer County that was not part of the original allocation of numbers in 1933. It was routed on pre-existing infrastructure.

Locust Street itself dates to the early twentieth century, although it did not initially bear a number. The southern extension of the road incorporates a portion of bygone highway CR 27/2.

It's unclear when the course of CR 31 was first unified with a numeric designation. In the 1970s, it appeared on maps as CR 219/13. This fractional designation may have been replaced by "CR 31" after the completion of US 460's Princeton bypass in 1978.

Originally CR 31 took a one-block jog at its north end, intersecting with WV 104 as South Saunders Avenue. This jog was eliminated by 2001, leaving behind a stub now designated CR 219/38.

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The sign for CR 31, at its north end. (Photo by the author, 2013.)

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Fractional spur roads

Road	Names	Start	Terminus	Length (km)	Notes
31/1	(unknown)
31/2	Asphalt Rd.	CR 31 south of Princeton	dead end	insignificant
31/3	Jennings St.	CR 31/2 south of Princeton	dead end	insignificant

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