U.S. Route 48
U.S. Numbered Highway in Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida in the United States in the United States

U.S. Route 48 (US 48), also known as the incomplete Corridor H of the Appalachian Development Highway System, extends from Interstate 79 (I-79) in Weston, West Virginia, eastward across the crest of the Allegheny Mountains to I-81 in Strasburg, Virginia. It runs for 157 miles (253 km) from northwestern Virginia to central West Virginia.
The route is planned as a four-lane divided highway and has been constructed in segments, most of which are open. The westernmost portion from Weston to Lorentz was constructed in the 1970s; the extension east to Elkins was constructed in the early 1990s, and the segment between Davis and Wardensville was constructed in segments which opened during 2002–2016. As of 2026, two segments are not yet upgraded and remain having the U.S. 48 designation: Parsons–Davis and Wardensville–Strasburg.
West Virginia's segment of Corridor H crosses very mountainous terrain, some of the most rugged in the eastern United States, and crosses two major rivers. There are more than 1000 historic structures, five historic districts, two Civil War battlefields, and other archaeological sites within five miles (8.0 km) of Corridor H, and the highway crosses through two national forests. There are over 50 species of plants and animals that are protected under the Endangered Species Act and more than 150 native trout streams, thousands of acres of wetlands and high mountain bogs, areas of karst terrain, and abandoned coal mines within the Corridor H study area.
Two previous highways were designated as US 48. The first, in California, was incorporated into the route of US 50; the second, in western Maryland and West Virginia, was redesignated Interstate 68.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “U.S. Route 48” as u.S. Numbered Highway in Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida in the United States in the United States. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as u.S. Numbered Highway in Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida in the United States in the United States. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 25, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q409684. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2002, 2016, 2026 and 1000.
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This entry incorporates text from “U.S. Route 48” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.