1983 Tennessee state highway renumbering

This article is part of the
highway renumbering series.
Alabama 1928, 1957
Arkansas 1926
California 1964
Colorado 1953, 1968
Connecticut 1932, 1963
Florida 1945
Indiana 1926
Iowa 1926, 1969
Louisiana 1955
Maine 1933
Massachusetts 1933
Minnesota 1934
Missouri 1926
Montana 1932
Nebraska 1926
Nevada 1976
New Jersey 1927, 1953
New Mexico 1988
New York 1927, 1930
North Carolina 1934, 1937, 1940, 1961
Ohio 1923, 1927, 1962
Pennsylvania 1928, 1961
Puerto Rico 1953
South Carolina 1928, 1937
South Dakota 1927, 1975
Tennessee 1983
Texas 1939
Utah 1962, 1977
Virginia 1923, 1928, 1933, 1940, 1958
Washington 1964
Wisconsin 1926
Wyoming 1927

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

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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 on October 1, 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

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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

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Old route New Route Notes
SR 1 Byp. SR 1 Located in Dickson. The old route of SR 1 became part of SR 235.
SR 1 Byp. SR 1 Located in McMinnville. The old route of SR 1 became SR 380.
SR 1 Spur SR 277 and part of SR 57 Eastern spur.
SR 1 Spur SR 4 Western spur; the old route of SR 4 became SR 278.
SR 2A SR 317 Replaced by part of SR 317.
SR 2 Bus. SR 39
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 2 Loop SR 2
SR 2 Spur SR 316
SR 3 Byp. SR 3 Located in Dyersburg; the old route of SR 2 became part of SR 211.
SR 3 Byp. SR 3 Located in Union City; the old route of SR 3 became part of SR 184.
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; replaced by part of SR 186.
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 Replaced by part of SR 175.
SR 15 Byp. SR 15 The old route of SR 15 became part of SR 273.
SR 18A SR 368
SR 20A SR 240
SR 22 Byp. SR 22 Replaced by a rerouting of SR 22 in Huntingdon; the old route became SR 22 Business.
SR 24A SR 26 Replaced by a extension of SR 26 in Lebanon.
SR 27 Spur SR 29 Replaced by an extension of SR 29.
SR 28 (part) SR 283 SR 28 was rerouted over part of SR 27 and existing county roads, and the old route of SR 28 and the separated part of SR 27 became SR 283.
SR 29A SR 328
SR 29A Spur SR 299
SR 29 Byp. SR 29 Replaced by a rerouting of SR 29; the old route became SR 378.
SR 32 Byp. SR 32 Replaced by a rerouting of SR 32; the old route became SR 343.
SR 34 Byp. SR 34 Replaced by a rerouting of SR 34 in Johnson City; a section of the old route became an extension of SR 91, while the remainder of the old route was decommissioned.
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 (which replaced the old route of SR 60) and a rerouting of SR 60.
SR 43 Byp. SR 215 Road is shown as an unlabeled state highway on pre-1983 maps.
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 69 Byp. SR 69 Replaced by a rerouting of SR 69; the section of the old route that was not already part of SR 76 became SR 356.
SR 73 Scenic SR 337 SR 73 Scenic is still posted.
SR 76 Byp. SR 76 Replaced by an extension of SR 76; the old route became SR 369.
SR 77 Spur? SR 364
SR 81A SR 353
SR 83 SR 4 Replaced by a rerouting of SR 4; SR 83 was reassigned as an upgrade of existing county roads.
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 101 (part) SR 285,
SR 301
SR 101 rerouted over existing county roads; old route replaced by part of new SR 285 and new SR 301.
SR 112A SR 76 Replaced by a rerouting of SR 76
SR 140 (part) SR 218 SR 140 rerouted over existing county roads; old route replaced by SR 218.
SR 148A SR 148 Replaced by an extension of SR 148; the old route became SR 318.
SR 156A SR 377
SR 42 Bus.? SR 294 Unclear if old the old route of SR 42 in Livingston was redesignated or turned back when SR 42 was rerouted over the bypass; this road became part of SR 294.
new? SR 319 Upgraded county roads except for possibly the Robinson Bridge section.
new? SR 374 May be upgraded county roads, but may have had a pre-1983 designation.

References

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  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 October 26, 2020 – 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.