U.S. Route 79 (US 79) in Tennessee enters the state from Arkansas via the Memphis & Arkansas Bridge in Memphis, and runs northeast through western and the northwestern portions of middle Tennessee, and leaving the state into Kentucky northeast of Clarksville. Along the route, US 79 is accompanied with several concurrencies, including hidden designations, throughout its alignment in Tennessee.
U.S. Route 79 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 US 79 highlighted in red | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by TDOT | ||||
| Length | 209.83 mi (337.69 km) | |||
| Existed | 1944–present | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| West end |      I-55 / US 61 / US 64 / US 70 / US 79 at the Arkansas state line/Mississippi River in Memphis | |||
| North end |  US 79 at the Kentucky state line northeast of Clarksville | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | Tennessee | |||
| Counties | Shelby, Fayette, Tipton, Haywood, Crockett, Gibson, Carroll, Henry, Stewart, Montgomery | |||
| Highway system | ||||
| ||||
Route description edit
Memphis to Brownsville edit
From I-55, US 79 continues to follow US 61/64/70 (SR 1) on E.H. Crump Boulevard. US 64/70/79 then turns north onto Danny Thomas Boulevard northward, then it makes a right turn onto Union Avenue, where US 51 (SR 3) gets involved in the concurrency until Bellevue Boulevard. US 64/70/79 then joins SR 277 northward until the U.S. routes turn onto Summer Avenue eastward. US 64 splits from US 70/79 at their intersection with SR 15 in Bartlett, in northeastern Shelby County.
US 79 continues to run concurrently with US 70 (SR 1) from here until Brownsville, in Haywood County. In Brownsville, US 70/79 joins the Ah Gray/C.A. Rawls Bypass with SR 19. The intersection with Anderson Avenue marks the beginning of US 79's long concurrency with SR 76, while the overlaps with SR 19 and US 70/SR 1 both end at the intersections with Jefferson Street and East Main Street, respectively. US 79/SR 76 begins a concurrency with US 70A at that point.[1]
Brownsville to Paris Landing edit
US 79/70A (SR 76) continues northeastward to have major junctions with US 412, US 45W and US 45E in the towns of Bells, Humboldt, and Milan, respectively. US 70A becomes a standalone route in Atwood. US 79 continues northeast to McKenzie and Paris. US 79 is the main thoroughfare accessing Paris Landing State Park before crossing the Tennessee River.[2][3]
Tennessee River to Kentucky state line edit
After entering Stewart County, US 79 becomes known as Donelson Parkway, and forms a portion of the southern boundary of the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area before entering Dover, where it crosses the Cumberland River, and then continues eastward to Clarksville. It then becomes known as Dover Road between the Stewart-Montgomery County line and the city of Clarksville.[4]
US 79 then runs concurrently with US 41A on the northwestern side of Clarksville, and it then turns left to bypass the downtown area, while beginning its concurrency with SR 13 for the remainder of its path to the Kentucky state line. Wilma Rudolph Boulevard is the name given to the portion of U.S. Route 79 between the Red River (Lynnwood-Tarpley) bridge near the Kraft Street intersection and I-24’s exit 4 interchange.
The highway then enters Todd County, Kentucky after exiting the city of Clarksville. The state line coincides with the northern terminus of SR 13.
Concurrency list edit
U.S. 79 runs concurrently with the following interstate and U.S. routes:
- I-55/US 61/US 64 from Arkansas state line to Exit 12,
- US 70 from Arkansas state line to Brownsville
- US 51 in downtown Memphis
- US 70A from Brownsville to Atwood, and
- US 41A (Providence Blvd.) from west Clarksville to downtown Clarksville
Additionally, all areas of US 79 run concurrently with Tennessee state routes throughout its course through the state as “hidden,” or secret designations as the state routes are not signed. They include:
SR 1 from Memphis to Brownsville (in association with US 70)
SR 3 in downtown Memphis (in association with US 51)
SR 59 from Braden to Mason
SR 76 from Brownsville to Clarksville
SR 77 from Milan to Atwood
SR 12 in Clarksville (in association with US 41A)
SR 48 through Clarksville
SR 13 from downtown Clarksville to the Kentucky state line
History edit
US 79 did not have any presence in Tennessee or southern Kentucky until it was routed into the state in 1944. Until then, the route ended in West Memphis, Arkansas, and US 79's current route in Tennessee was signed solely as SR 76 from Brownsville to Clarksville, and SR 13 from Clarksville to the Kentucky line.[5]
The section of US 79 in Clarksville between the Lynnwood-Tarpley Bridge and the I-24 interchange was originally naned the Guthrie Highway, for nearby Guthrie, Kentucky, until 1994, when it was renamed Wilma Rudolph Boulevard. This was done to honor Wilma Rudolph, an Olympic runner from Clarksville, who won three gold medals in the 1960 Rome Summer Olympic Games in Italy.[6]
Major intersections edit
The mileposts listed in the following table is only an estimated calculation. Actual mile markers may vary and subject to change due to any future reroutings that may occur.
| County | Location | mi | km | Destinations | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mississippi River | 0.00 | 0.00 |     I-55 north / US 61 north / US 64 west / US 70 west / US 79 south – West Memphis, St. Louis, MO | Continuation into Arkansas | |||
| Memphis & Arkansas Bridge; Arkansas state line; begin concurrency with unsigned SR 1 | |||||||
| see U.S. Route 70 | |||||||
| Haywood | Brownsville | 65.4 | 105.3 |   US 70 east (East Main Street/SR 1 east) – Jackson | Eastern end of US 70/SR 1 concurrency; western end of  US 70A concurrency; western terminus of US 70A; concurrency with unsigned SR 76 began during US 79’s concurrency with US 70 and SR 1. | ||
| 66.6 | 107.2 |  SR 369 south (North Washington Avenue) – Downtown Brownsville | Northern terminus of SR 369 | ||||
| Crockett | Bells | 77.7 | 125.0 |  SR 88 west (Main Street) – Alamo | Southern end of SR 88 concurrency | ||
| 77.9 | 125.4 | SR 88 east (Central Avenue) | Northern end of SR 88 concurrency | ||||
| 79.3– 79.5 | 127.6– 127.9 |  US 412 (SR 20) – Dyersburg, Jackson | Interchange | ||||
| Gadsden | 84.8 | 136.5 |  SR 221 west (Quincy Street) – Alamo | Eastern terminus of SR 221 | |||
| Gibson | Humboldt | 88.9 | 143.1 |  US 79 Byp. north / US 70A Byp. east (SR 366 east) | Western terminus of US 79 Bypass/US 70A Bypass/SR 366 | ||
| 90.1 | 145.0 |   US 45W Bus. north (Central Avenue/SR 5 north) | Southern end of US 45W Business concurrency | ||||
| 90.6 | 145.8 | US 45W Bus. south (Main Street/SR 5 south) | Northern end of US 45W Business/SR 5 concurrency | ||||
| 90.9 | 146.3 |  SR 152 (Mitchell Street) – Medina | |||||
| 92.0 | 148.1 | US 45W / US 79 Byp. / US 70A Byp. (SR 366) – Union City, Jackson | Eastern terminus of US 79 Byp./US 70A Bypass | ||||
| | 93.8 | 151.0 |  SR 187 east | Western terminus of SR 187 | |||
| Gibson | 96.0 | 154.5 |  SR 186 (Main Street) – Trenton, Three Way | ||||
| Milan | 101.9 | 164.0 |  US 45E (South 1st Street/SR 43/SR 77 west/SR 104) – Martin, Jackson | Southern end of SR 77 concurrency | |||
| 103.8 | 167.0 |  SR 425 west (Middle Road) | Eastern terminus of SR 425 | ||||
| Carroll | Atwood | 107.7 | 173.3 |  SR 220 south (Church Street) | Northern terminus of SR 220 | ||
| 108.3 | 174.3 | US 70A east (SR 77 east) – Huntingdon | Northern end of US 70A/SR 77 concurrency | ||||
| Trezevant | 121.8 | 196.0 |  SR 105 (Main Street) – Bradford, McLemoresville | ||||
| McKenzie | 131.5 | 211.6 |  SR 436 south (Cherrywood Avenue) – McLemoresville | Northern terminus of SR 436 | |||
| 132.0 | 212.4 |  SR 124 west (Cedar Street/Old McKenzie Road) – Downtown, Greenfield | |||||
| 132.4 | 213.1 |  SR 423 east (Shiloh Road) | Western terminus of SR 423 | ||||
| 133.4– 133.6 | 214.7– 215.0 |  SR 22 – Dresden, Huntingdon | Interchange | ||||
| Henry | Paris | 146.4 | 235.6 |  SR 218 (Highway 218 Bypass) | Beltway around Paris | ||
| 148.2 | 238.5 |  US 641 (Veterans Drive/Mineral Wells Avenue/SR 69) – Paris Business District, Camden | |||||
| 149.0 | 239.8 |  SR 356 west (East Wood Street) | Old US 79/SR 76; eastern terminus of SR 356 | ||||
| | 152.3 | 245.1 | SR 218 west (Highway 218 Bypass) | Southern end of SR 218 concurrency; beltway around Paris | |||
| | 155.3 | 249.9 | SR 218 east (Buchanan Road) – Buchanan | Northern end of SR 218 concurrency | |||
| | 162.4 | 261.4 |  SR 140 west – Buchanan | Eastern terminus of SR 140 | |||
| Paris Landing State Park | 165.0 | 265.5 |  SR 119 north – Murray (KY) | Southern terminus of SR 119 | |||
| Tennessee River (Kentucky Lake) | 166.1– 166.8 | 267.3– 268.4 | Governor Ned R. McWherter Bridge | ||||
| Stewart | Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area | 170.8 | 274.9 |  SR 232 south – McKinnon | Northern terminus of SR 232 | ||
| Dover | 177.6 | 285.8 |  SR 461 north (The Trace) – Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area | Southern terminus of SR 461 | |||
| 179.6 | 289.0 |  SR 49 east (Spring Street) – Tennessee Ridge, Erin | Western terminus of SR 49 | ||||
| 166.1– 166.8 | 267.3– 268.4 | US 79 Bridge over Cumberland River | |||||
| Big Rock | 188.5 | 303.4 |  SR 120 north – Bumpus Mills, Cadiz (KY) | Southern terminus of SR 120 | |||
| | 192.0 | 309.0 |  SR 46 (Red Top Road) – Cumberland City | Western terminus of SR 46 | |||
| Montgomery | Woodlawn | 199.8 | 321.5 |  SR 233 south (Lylewood Road) – Cumberland City | Northern terminus of SR 233 | ||
| | 203.9 | 328.1 |  SR 374 east (Paul B. Huff Memorial Parkway) | Western terminus of SR 374; interchange; partial beltway around Clarksville | |||
| Clarksville | 207.6 | 334.1 |  US 41A north (Fort Campbell Boulevard/SR 12 north) – Oak Grove, Fort Campbell, Hopkinsville | Southern end of US 41A/SR 12 concurrency | |||
| 209.4 | 337.0 | US 41A south (N 2nd Street/SR 76 north) / US 41A Byp. (N Riverside Drive/SR 12 south/SR 13 south) – Downtown Clarksville | Northern terminus of US 41A Bypass; Southern end of SR 13 concurrency; northern end of US 41A/SR 12 concurrency | ||||
| 211.1 | 339.7 |  SR 48 south (College Street) | Southern end of SR 48 concurrency | ||||
| 212.4 | 341.8 | Dunbar Cave Road – Dunbar Cave State Park | |||||
| 213.3 | 343.3 | SR 48 north (Trenton Road) – Trenton, KY | Northern end of SR 48 concurrency | ||||
| 214.1 | 344.6 | SR 374 (101st Airborne Division Parkway) | Single-point urban interchange; partial beltway around Clarksville | ||||
| 216.2– 216.4 | 347.9– 348.3 |  I-24 – Nashville, Paducah | I-24 Exit 4 | ||||
| | 221.7 | 356.8 | US 79 north (Russellville Road) – Guthrie, Russellville | Continuation into Kentucky; northern end of SR 13 concurrency | |||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
| |||||||
See also edit
References edit
- ^ Tennessee Department of Transportation (2017). Tennessee's Official Transportation Map [front] (PDF) (Map) (2017 ed.). Nashville: Tennessee Department of Transportation. § D2 and D3. Retrieved February 28, 2017.
- ^ Rand McNally (2016). "Tennessee" (Map). The Road Atlas (2016 Walmart ed.). 1 in≈19 mi. Chicago: Rand McNally. p. 94. §§ C6-C7, D5-D6, E4-D5. ISBN 0-528-01329-7.
- ^ Tennessee Department of Transportation (2017). Tennessee's Official Transportation Map [front] (PDF) (Map) (2017 ed.). Nashville: Tennessee Department of Transportation. § A5, B4-B5, C3-C4, and D4. Retrieved February 28, 2017.
- ^ /Tennessee Department of Transportation (2017). Tennessee's Official Transportation Map [front] (PDF) (Map) (2017 ed.). Nashville: Tennessee Department of Transportation. § A5 and A6. Retrieved February 28, 2017.
- ^ Rand McNally Road Atlas 1959, page 34.
- ^ “Leaders of Afro-American Nashville”. Archived from the original on July 14, 2010. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
