1983 Tennessee state highway renumbering

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The 1983 Tennessee state highway renumbering occurred when the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) took control of approximately 3,300 miles (5,300 km) of city and county maintained roads, designating them as state routes. As part of this process, most state routes with suffixed or special designations were renumbered with general numerical designations, and the state route system was divided into primary and secondary highways.

Background

The Tennessee Department of Highways, predecessor to the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT), was founded in 1915, and gradually assumed control of major routes throughout the state. The first 78 state routes were designated in 1923,[1] and additional routes were added over the course of the succeeding decades. By the time of the 1983 takeover, the state route system consisted of approximately 175 numbered routes, in addition to many special suffixed routes. Suffixes and special designations used included "-A" for alternate, "-Byp" for bypass, "-Bus" for business routes, "-Conn" and "-Spur" for connector and spur routes, and "-Temp" for temporary routes. The Tennessee state route shield consisted of a white inverted triangle with the number in large black print and the letters "Tenn" below in smaller capital letters.[2]

State highway takeover and renumberings

As traffic increased on roadways throughout the state, many counties increasingly struggled to appropriate the funding to maintain their major roads, many of which connected to Interstate Highways.[3] In addition, a 1983 study conducted by TDOT found that a number of important roads were partially maintained by both the state and local governments.[4]

In May 1983, Tennessee Governor Lamar Alexander signed legislation which allowed for the state to assume control of 3,300 miles (5,300 km) of city and county maintained roads, and made an additional 11,500 miles (18,500 km) of rural roads eligible for state aid.[5] TDOT took control of these roads on July 1, 1983, and incorporated them into the state route system.[6][7] In addition, as part of this process, the state renumbered most of their suffixed and special routes with by replacing them with extensions or rerouting of existing routes or entirely new designations altogether.[4] State routes were also divided into primary and secondary highways, with new primary shields unveiled to the public in November 1983;[8] secondary routes retained the inverted triangle shields, with the "Tenn" removed. Primary designations were given to highway sections that are part of the Federal-aid primary highway system, and secondary routes, commonly called county routes, are part of the Federal-aid secondary highway system. The sign changes were implemented in 1984 at a cost of $1.3 million (equivalent to $3.23 million in 2023[9]).[8]

Route renumbering list

Old route New Route Notes
SR 2 Byp. SR 2 SR 2 was rerouted from US 11 onto the US 11 Bypass in Cleveland, replacing SR 2 Byp.; An extension of SR 74 replaced SR 2's original alignment
SR 3 Byp. SR 3 Located in Dyersburg
SR 3 Byp. SR 3 Located in Union City
SR 3 Spur SR 4
SR 4 Spur None Decommissioned
SR 5A SR 365
SR 5 Bus. SR 367
SR 5 Byp. SR 186 Component route to US 45 Byp. in Jackson
SR 5 Byp. SR 366
SR 8 Spur SR 389
SR 10A SR 376
SR 11 Byp. SR 106 Replaced by an extension of SR 106
SR 14A SR 175
SR 18A SR 368
SR 20A SR 240
SR 22 Byp. SR 22 Replaced by a rerouting of SR 22 in Huntingdon
SR 24A SR 26 Replaced by a rerouting of SR 26 in Lebanon
SR 27 Spur SR 29 Replaced by an extension of SR 29
SR 29A SR 328
SR 29A Spur SR 299
SR 32 Byp. SR 32 Replaced by a rerouting of SR 32
SR 34 Byp. SR 34 Replaced by a rerouting of SR 34 in Johnson City
SR 34 Byp. SR 34 Replaced by a rerouting of SR 34 in Greeneville
SR 34 Spur None Appears to have been decommissioned
SR 40 Byp. SR 311,
SR 60
Original companion designation for APD-40 (US 64 Byp.) in Cleveland; replaced by a new designation and a rerouting of SR 60
SR 43 Spur SR 372
SR 50A SR 373
SR 55 Bus. SR 379
SR 56A SR 291
SR 58A SR 326
SR 67A SR 359
SR 76 Byp. SR 76 Replaced by an extension of SR 76
SR 85A SR 262
SR 87A SR 371
SR 93A SR 355
SR 93 Bus. SR 126 Replaced by an extension of SR 126
SR 112A SR 76 Replaced by a rerouting of SR 76
SR 148A SR 148 Replaced by an extension of SR 148
SR 156A SR 377

References

  1. ^ Highway Planning Survey Division (1925). Biennial Report of the Commissioner of the Department of Highways and Public Works State of Tennessee for the Years 1923 and 1924 (PDF) (Report). Nashville: Tennessee Department of Highways and Public Works. pp. 39–44. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
  2. ^ Highway Planning Survey Division (1959). History of the Tennessee Highway Department (PDF) (Report). Nashville: Tennessee State Highway Department. pp. 51–52. OCLC 768266212. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
  3. ^ "The Road To 100 Years" (PDF). Tennessee Road Builder. Vol. 17, no. 5. September 2014. p. 22. Retrieved April 6, 2019.
  4. ^ a b Basconi, Mary Alice (October 14, 1984). "Road-sign plan under way in area". Johnson City Press-Chronicle. p. 4. Retrieved May 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Alexander Signs State Road Reorganization Bill". The Rutherford Courier. Smyrna, Tennessee. May 19, 1983. p. 2. Retrieved May 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Ross, David R. (June 8, 1983). "State To Acquire Several County Roads On July 1". The Stewart-Houston Times. Dover, Tennessee; Erin, Tennessee. p. 1A. Retrieved May 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ Tennessee Department of Transportation (1986). Connector Hwy (proposed) from SR-6 to I-65, Serving Saturn Corporation Plant, Maury/Williamson Counties: Environmental Impact Statement (Report). Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved 2020-10-26 – via Google Books.
  8. ^ a b Vaughn, Renee (November 14, 1983). "Signs To Specify 'Primary' Roads". The Tennessean. Nashville. p. 3B. Retrieved May 23, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ Johnston, Louis; Williamson, Samuel H. (2023). "What Was the U.S. GDP Then?". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved November 30, 2023. United States Gross Domestic Product deflator figures follow the MeasuringWorth series.