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
 | This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. |
| 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
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "The Road To 100 Years" (PDF). Tennessee Road Builder. Vol. 17, no. 5. September 2014. p. 22. Retrieved April 6, 2019.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Alexander Signs State Road Reorganization Bill". The Rutherford Courier. Smyrna, Tennessee. May 19, 1983. p. 2. Retrieved May 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b Vaughn, Renee (November 14, 1983). "Signs To Specify 'Primary' Roads". The Tennessean. Nashville. p. 3B. Retrieved May 23, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Johnston, Louis; Williamson, Samuel H. (2024). "What Was the U.S. GDP Then?". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved April 28, 2024. United States Gross Domestic Product deflator figures follow the Measuring Worth series.