State Route 253 (SR 253) is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of Virginia. Known as Port Republic Road, the state highway runs from U.S. Route 11 (US 11) in Harrisonburg east to US 340 near Port Republic. SR 253 is a northwest–southeast highway that connects Harrisonburg with Cross Keys and Port Republic in southeastern Rockingham County. The state highway also provides access to portions of James Madison University on either side of Interstate 81 (I-81). SR 253 is maintained by the Virginia Department of Transportation except for the portion in the independent city of Harrisonburg, which is municipally maintained. A small portion of Port Republic Road through Port Republic was included in the state highway system by the late 1920s as part of the highway between Waynesboro and Elkton. This section was paved in the early 1930s and carried three different route numbers until it was transferred to the secondary system in the early 1940s. Port Republic Road was placed on its modern alignment through Port Republic in the mid-1950s, by which time almost all of the highway was paved. SR 659, which was assigned to Port Republic Road from Harrisonburg to near Cross Keys, was extended southeast through Port Republic by the mid-1970s. Port Republic Road was expanded to four lanes within Harrisonburg in the mid-1990s and mid-2000s and along a short stretch south from the city limits in the early 2010s. SR 659 was brought into the primary highway system as SR 253 in 2005. Route description SR 253 begins at an intersection with US 11 (Main Street) south of downtown Harrisonburg and southwest of the campus of James Madison University. The highway heads southeast as a four-lane undivided highway that intersects Bluestone Drive, which heads north to the campus and Bridgeforth Stadium, just before meeting I-81 at a diamond interchange. SR 253's next intersection is with Forest Hill Road, which leads to the James Madison University Convocation Center, the Edith J. Carrier Arboretum, and the rest of the portion of James Madison University east of I-81. The highway gains a center left-turn lane at Devon Lane and passes several university athletic fields at Neff Avenue. SR 253's center left-turn lane ends and the road expands to a four-lane divided highway at the boundary between the independent city of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. The highway intersects SR 280 (Stone Spring Road) next to Rockingham Memorial