The Tri-Cities of Virginia (also known as the Tri-City area or the Appomattox Basin) is an area in the Greater Richmond Region which includes the three independent cities of Petersburg, Colonial Heights, and Hopewell and portions of the adjoining counties of Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, and Prince George in south-central Virginia. Other unincorporated communities located in the Tri-Cities area include Ettrick, Fort Lee, and City Point, the latter formerly a historic incorporated town which was annexed to become part of the City of Hopewell. Regional description The Tri-Cities area is centered on the Appomattox River about south of Richmond. The Appomattox has its confluence with the James River near historic City Point in Hopewell. The applicable Metropolitan Statistical Area for the Tri-Cities area is the Richmond, VA MSA, which includes Richmond and counties generally to the north of the Tri-Cities area. Economic diversity is typical of the entire Richmond-Petersburg region, and helps to insulate it from hardship due to economic fluctuation in particular sectors of the economy.The tri-city region has been undergoing a opioid epidemic for several years now as well. The region's central location also allows it to benefit from growth in other regions of Virginia and the state as a whole. Transportation in the Tri-Cities Interstate 95 is the major north-south highway. Interstate 85 and Interstate 295 also pass through, as does U.S. Route 1 (The Boulevard in Colonial Heights), U.S. Route 301, State Route 144 (Temple Avenue). Major east-west highways are U.S. Route 460, State Route 10, and State Route 36. Major river crossings include the Martin Luther King Memorial Bridge and the twin Charles Hardaway Marks Bridges across the Appomattox River, and the Varina-Enon Bridge and the Benjamin Harrison Memorial Bridge across the James River. Amtrak passenger railroad service is provided with a station at Ettrick, an unincorporated community in Chesterfield County adjacent to both Petersburg and Colonial Heights. Freight railroad service is provided by both CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern Corporation. Bus Transportation is provided by the Petersburg Area Transit . There are nine routes serving parts of Petersburg, Ettrick, Colonial Heights (Southpark Mall area), Fort Lee, and Prince George County that all have their intersection in Old Town. PAT and GRTC together provide express bus service between Richmond and Petersburg, with some express buses stopping at John Tyler Community College in Chester. Media Periodicals include: The Richmond Times-Dispatch, local daily paper for Richmond. The Progress-Index, local