1983 Tennessee state highway renumbering

State highway renumbering in Tennessee, United States May 2025 May 2023 The 1983 Tennessee state highway renumbering occurred when the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) took control of approximately 3,300 mi 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 on October 1, 1923, Report 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 https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/tdot/documents/100years/Biennial_Report%2c_Department_of_Highways_1923%2c_1924.pdf Nashville Tennessee Department of Highways and Public Works May 19, 2023 39-44 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. Report Highway Planning Survey Division 1959 History of the Tennessee Highway Department https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/tdot/documents/100years/History_of_the_TN_Highway_Department.pdf Nashville Tennessee State Highway Department April 26, 2020 51–52 768266212 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. September 2014 The Road To 100 Years https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/tdot/documents/100years/TRBA-TDOT-TURNS100.pdf Tennessee Road Builder 17 5 22 April 6, 2019 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. Basconi Mary Alice October 14, 1984 Road-sign plan under way in area https://www.newspapers.com/article/johnson-city-press-road-sign-plan-under/124402898/ 4 Johnson City Press-Chronicle May 11, 2023 Newspapers.com In May 1983, Tennessee Governor Lamar Alexander signed legislation which allowed for the state to assume control of 3,300 mi km of city and county maintained roads, and made an additional 11,500 mi km of rural roads eligible for state aid. May 19, 1983 Alexander Signs State Road Reorganization Bill https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-rutherford-courier-alexander-signs-s/124403385/ 2 The Rutherford Courier Smyrna, Tennessee May 11, 2023 Newspapers.com TDOT took control of these roads on July 1, 1983, and incorporated them into the state route system. Ross David R. June 8, 1983 State To Acquire Several County Roads On July 1 https://www.newspapers.com/article/stewart-houston-times-state-to-acquire-s/124403280/ 1A The Stewart-Houston Times Dover, Tennessee; Erin, Tennessee May 11, 2023 Newspapers.com Report Tennessee Department of Transportation Tennessee Department of Transportation 1986 Connector Hwy (proposed) from SR-6 to I-65, Serving Saturn Corporation Plant, Maury/Williamson Counties: Environmental Impact Statement https://books.google.com/books?id=gKo1AQAAMAAJ Federal Highway Administration 2020-10-26 Google Books 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. State routes were also divided into primary and secondary highways, with new primary shields unveiled to the public in November 1983; Renee Vaughn Signs To Specify 'Primary' Roads https://www.newspapers.com/clip/58451684/signs-to-specify-primary-roads/ The Tennessean Nashville November 14, 1983 May 23, 2020 3B Newspapers.com 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 $US-GDP 1300000 1984 in US-GDPUS-GDP). Route renumbering list + 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 an 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 Category:State highways in Tennessee Category:1983 in transport Category:1983 in Tennessee Category:Highway renumbering in the United States