| State Route 540 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall Line Freeway | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by GDOT | ||||
| Length: | 215 mi[1] (346 km) | |||
| History: | Under construction as of 2010[update] | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| West end: | Alabama state line near Columbus | |||
| Macon, Milledgeville | ||||
| East end: | South Carolina state line near Augusta | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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Georgia State Routes
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The Fall Line Freeway is a highway currently being constructed that will run the width of the state of Georgia from Columbus to Augusta, passing through several cities including Macon and Milledgeville. It will be designated State Route 540 upon completion, and it will be a four-lane divided highway, except when following Interstate 75 (I-75) from Byron to Macon and J. R. Allen Parkway, the bypass around Columbus. Its intention is to create an easier path for freight trucks to carry goods from Columbus to Augusta and vice versa. Much of the route will follow existing I-75 and U.S. Route 1 (US 1), while other parts will be newly-constructed roads, some of which, such as the portion from Macon to Sandersville, are currently under construction or have not yet been built.
As of April 2011, approximately 185 miles (298 km)[1] (86 percent) of the route is open to traffic or under construction, including the entirety of the route between Columbus and Macon. The route will follow US 80 from Columbus eastward to Geneva, State Route 96 (SR 96) from there to Fort Valley, and SR 49 Connector and SR 49 to Byron, where it joins I-75. It follows I-75 to Macon, then proceeds east along or near SR 57 as far as the Wilkinson County line. The Fall Line Freeway then proceeds northeastward mostly on new roadway until it reaches SR 24 just southeast of Milledgeville, and it then follows SR 24, SR 88, and US 1 to Augusta, ending at I-520.
The alignment near Macon was originally intended to follow a new extension of roadway from I-75 at US 80 east and northeast to reunite with US 80 east of the city, providing Macon with a much-needed east bypass. However, this route was planned through the traditional cultural property of the Ocmulgee National Monument. Opposition to the project resulted in its cancellation, even after almost a mile of the new highway, ending at a stub and consisting of two long bridges, was constructed. According to the DOT, the freeway will now follow I-75 into Macon, then turn east on I-16, departing it at U.S. 80 and following that highway eastward out of Macon. Despite this, Macon Mayor Robert Reichert has expressed interest in utilizing an under-construction highway in south Bibb County, connecting I-75 to US 129, as a possible alignment for the Fall Line Freeway; this would require another highway extension across the swamps surrounding the Ocmulgee River.
The Fall Line Freeway, including portions of US 80 is designated to be included in I-14, a proposed future interstate that would run from I-520 in Augusta, Georgia, to either Natchez, Mississippi, or to I-49 at Alexandria, Louisiana.