U.S. Route 19 in Tennessee

U.S. Route 19 in Tennessee traverses approximately 43 miles (69 km) across the Tri-Cities area of East Tennessee; from Elk Park, North Carolina, at the North Carolina state line, to the Virginia state line in Bristol. The designation from US 19 to US 19E happens in Bluff City, where US 19W continues along Volunteer Parkway towards Johnson City.

1 Route description
2 Junction list
3 History
4 Alternate names
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

Route description

Entering Tennessee from Elk Park, North Carolina, US-19E lazily curves down to Roan Mountain, where travelers can take SR-143 to Roan Mountain State Park or further down to the official Roan Mountain at the Tennessee/North Carolina border. Near Hampton, US-19E widens to an expressway, which it will continue on as till downtown Bristol. At Elizabethton, travelers typically follow US 321 towards Johnson City. At Bluff City, US-19E and US-19W merge back into US-19, heading north to Bristol. Along the way, travelers cannot miss the Bristol Motor Speedway along the side of the road; during race weekend, the highway and farms adjacent to the road becomes miles of parking. In downtown Bristol, US-19 ends at State Street, which straddles the Tennessee/Virginia border.

Junction list

County	Location	Mile ^[1]	Destinations	Notes
Carter	Roan Mountain	5	SR-143 south (Roan Road) – Roan Mountain State Park
		12	SR-173 west (Simerly Creek Road) – Erwin
		15	SR-361 west (Gap Creek Road)
	Hampton	17	US-321 north / SR-67 east – Watauga Lake	South end of US-321 overlap, east end of SR-67 overlap
	Elizabethton	22	US-321 south (Broad Street) / SR-67 west – Johnson City	North end of US-321 overlap, west end of SR-67 overlap
	Elizabethton	22.5	SR-91 north (Stony Creek) / Lovers Lane – Shady Valley, Elizabethton Municipal Airport
Sullivan	Bluff City	30.7	SR-44 north (Bluff City Highway) – Bluff City
	Bluff City	31	US-11E south / US-19W south (Volunteer Parkway) – Johnson City	US 19E ends/US 19 begins; south end of US 11E overlap
	Bristol	35	SR-394 / SR-390 – Bluff City, Blountville	Also to Bristol Dragway
	Bristol	42.7	US-421 (State Street)	State Street straddles the Tennessee/Virginia border

History

1927 - US-19 first appears in Tennessee; from the North Carolina state line (at Elk Park) to Bluff City; it is later extended through Bristol into Virginia. US-19/US-19E is roughly similar to the routing seen today.^[2]
1930 - US-19 is truncated at Bluff City and split into 19E and 19W; 19E follows the original US-19 routing south.^[2]
1994 - New four-lane US-19E expressway completed between Elizabethton to Bluff City. Abandoned road becomes Old Bristol Highway (Carter County)/Old Elizabethton Highway (Sullivan County).

Alternate names

Though the highway is commonly known as "US 19" or "US 19E" throughout the state, the highway does have other known names it uses locally in areas.

Veterans Memorial Parkway - Road name within Carter County.
Volunteer Parkway - Road name from Virginia state line to Bluff City (continues on towards Johnson City).

References

^ ^a ^b Google, Inc. Google Maps – US 19E & US 19 in Tennessee (Map). Cartography by Google, Inc. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=TN-37+N%2FUS-19E+N&daddr=Volunteer+Pkwy&geocode=FYDsJwIdhsYc-w%3BFXRlLgIdg-YZ-w&hl=en&mra=dme&mrcr=0&mrsp=1&sz=15&sll=36.589068,-82.184687&sspn=0.025361,0.030556&ie=UTF8&ll=36.372645,-82.180481&spn=0.813823,0.977783&z=10. Retrieved 2011-01-31.
^ ^a ^b "Tennessee's US Highways". http://www.us-highways.com/tn-us.htm. Retrieved 2010-11-01.

External links

U.S. Route 19
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