U.S. RouteĀ 11 (USĀ 11) is a northāsouth United States Numbered Highway in western Virginia. At 339 miles (546Ā km), it is the second longest numbered route (after USĀ 58) and longest primarily northāsouth route in the state. It enters the state from Tennessee as the divided routes USĀ 11E and USĀ 11W at Bristol, roughly follows the West Virginia border through the Blue Ridge Mountains and Shenandoah Valley, and enters the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia from Frederick County. Most of the route closely parallels I-81. From south to north, USĀ 11 serves the cities and towns of Bristol, Abingdon, Wytheville, Pulaski, Radford, Christiansburg, Roanoke, Lexington, Staunton, Harrisonburg, Strasburg, and Winchester. As one of the original U.S. Highways, it was first designated through Virginia in 1926 and has largely followed the same route since. Prior to the construction of the Interstate Highway System, it was the primary long-distance route for traversing the western part of the state. Much of it roughly follows the Great Wagon Road, a colonial-era road that followed the Appalachian Mountains from Georgia to Pennsylvania.