Editing Harrisonburg, Virginia (section)

=== Infrastructure ===
[[File:2019-06-25 17 56 08 View north along Interstate 81 from the overpass for Virginia State Route 280 (Stone Spring Road) in Harrisonburg, Virginia.jpg|thumb|right|[[Interstate 81]], a main roadway in Harrisonburg]]
Major highways in Harrisonburg include [[Interstate 81 in Virginia|Interstate 81]], the main north–south highway in western Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley. Other significant roads serving the city include [[U.S. Route 11 in Virginia|U.S. Route 11]], [[U.S. Route 33 in Virginia|U.S. Route 33]], [[Virginia State Route 42]], [[Virginia State Route 253]] and [[Virginia State Route 280]].

In early 2002, the Harrisonburg community discussed the possibility of creating a pedestrian mall downtown. Public meetings were held to discuss the merits and drawbacks of pursuing such a plan. Ultimately, the community decided to keep its Main Street open to traffic. From these discussions, however, a strong voice emerged from the community in support of downtown revitalization.

On July 1, 2003, Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.downtownharrisonburg.org/|title=Home|website=Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance}}</ref> was incorporated as a [[501(c)(3)]] [[nonprofit organization]] with the mission of rejuvenating the downtown district.<ref name="DNR28OCT02">{{cite news|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=VNRB&p_theme=vnrb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=109E3B78E330AA5D&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|title=Downtown|last=Bolsinger|first=Andrew Scot|date=October 28, 2002|work=[[Daily News-Record]]|location=Harrisonburg, VA |access-date=July 3, 2009}}</ref>

In 2004, downtown was designated as the [[Harrisonburg Downtown Historic District]] on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] and a designated Virginia Main Street Community,<ref name="NPS-Hist-Dist">{{cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/history/Nr/travel/VAmainstreet/har.htm|title=Harrisonburg Downtown Historic District|work=Virginia Main Street Community: A National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=July 3, 2009}}</ref> with the neighboring [[Old Town Historic District (Harrisonburg, Virginia)|Old Town Historic District]] residential community gaining historic district status in 2007. Several vacant buildings have been renovated and repurposed for new uses, such as the Hardesty-Higgins House and City Exchange, used for the Harrisonburg Tourist Center and high-end loft apartments, respectively.

In 2008, downtown Harrisonburg spent over $1 million in cosmetic and sidewalk infrastructure improvements (also called streetscaping and wayfinding projects). The City Council appropriated $500,000 for custom street signs to be used as "wayfinding signs" directing visitors to areas of interest around the city. Another $500,000 were used to upgrade street lighting, sidewalks, and landscaping along Main Street and Court Square.<ref name="TV314Aug2007">{{cite news|url=http://www.whsv.com/news/headlines/9163361.html|title=Harrisonburg Streetscape|last=Creswell|first=Kelly|date=August 14, 2007|work=WHSV TV 3|publisher=Gray Television, Inc.|access-date=July 3, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716051358/http://www.whsv.com/news/headlines/9163361.html|archive-date=July 16, 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 2014, Downtown Harrisonburg was named a Great American Main Street by the National Main Street Association and downtown was designated the first culinary district in the commonwealth of Virginia.

[[Norfolk Southern]] also owns a small railyard in Harrisonburg. The Chesapeake and Western corridor from [[Elkton, Virginia|Elkton]] to Harrisonburg has very high volumes of grain and ethanol.
The railroad serves two major grain elevators inside the city limits. In May 2017 [[Norfolk Southern]] 51T derailed in Harrisonburg spilling corn into Blacks Run. No one was injured.

[[Shenandoah Valley Railroad (short-line)|Shenandoah Valley Railroad]] interchanges with the NS on south side of Harrisonburg and with [[CSX]] and [[Buckingham Branch Railroad]] in North [[Staunton, Virginia|Staunton]].

[[Harrisonburg Transit]] provides public transportation in Harrisonburg. Virginia Breeze provides intercity bus service between [[Blacksburg, Virginia|Blacksburg]], Harrisonburg, and [[Washington, D.C.]]<ref>{{Cite web| title = The Virginia Breeze: Bus from Blacksburg to Washington, DC| work = The Virginia Breeze: Bus from Blacksburg to Washington, DC {{!}} DRPT| access-date = January 20, 2020| url = https://virginiabreeze.org/}}</ref>