U.S. Route 25E

U.S. Route 25E
Route information
Auxiliary route of US 25
Length:	114 mi^[1] (183 km)
Existed:	November 26, 1926 (1926-11-26)^[2] – present
Major junctions
South end:	US 25 / US 25W / US 70 in Newport, TN
	US 58 at Cumberland Gap, TN US 25 / US 25W in North Corbin, KY
North end:	I-75 in North Corbin, KY
Location
States:	Tennessee, Kentucky
Counties:	TN: Cocke, Jefferson, Hamblen, Grainger, Claiborne KY: Bell, Knox, Laurel

Highway system
United States Numbered Highway System List Special Divided Replaced

U.S. Route 25E is the eastern branch of U.S. Route 25 from Newport, Tennessee, where US 25 splits into US 25E and US 25W, to North Corbin, Kentucky, where the two highways rejoin. The road, however, continues as US 25E for roughly 2 miles (3.2 km) until it joins Interstate 75 in North Corbin.

All of US-25E in Tennessee is now the East Tennessee Crossings Byway, a National Scenic Byway.^[3] A portion of US 25E in Tennessee is also designated as Appalachian Development Corridor S. The corridor follows US 25E between I-81 in White Pine and State Route 63 (Corridor F) in Harrogate.^[4]

US 25E has been included in the U.S. Highway System since the system's inception in 1926.

Route description

Tennessee

Warning signs along U.S. 25E approaching Cumberland Gap Tunnel

Northbound US 25 and westbound US 70 leave Newport concurrent with one another. At an intersection west of town, US 25 splits into two highways: US 25E, which heads north from this point, and US 25W, which continues west along US 70.

US 25E crosses over Douglas Lake south of Baneberry. Between White Pine and Witt, the highway has an interchange with Interstate 81 (exit 8). North of the Interstate, the road widens out to four lanes, and receives the Appalachian Development designation "Corridor S". US 25E intersects US 11E east of Morristown. It then crosses Cherokee Lake.

Near Bean Station, US 25E joins US 11W. The two roads split 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Bean Station, and US 25E continues northwest to Tazewell.^[5]

Northwest of Tazewell, the road bridges the Powell River, and then passes through Harrogate. In the town of Cumberland Gap, Tennessee, US 25E serves as the western terminus of US 58. US 25E used that highway en route to the Cumberland Gap prior to 1996, however, it now uses a new highway leading to the Cumberland Gap Tunnel, freeing up a portion of road that US 58 now uses. US 25E then passes through the tunnel, emerging on the other side in Kentucky.

Kentucky

The Kentucky side of the Cumberland Gap Tunnel.

US-25E remains a multilane divided highway for its entire extent in Kentucky.^[6] Upon departing the tunnel, the road heads west to the town of Middlesboro, Kentucky, where it intersects Route 74. US-25E turns north at Middlesboro toward Pineville, the county seat of Bell County. In Pineville, the route is the western terminus of US-119.

US-25E departs Pineville and heads northwest, indirectly serving Tinsley via KY 92, crossing into Knox County, and bypassing Flat Lick to the west. The route makes an S-shaped curve, dipping south then turning back northwest as it approaches Barbourville. After serving the east side of Barbourville, the highway passes near Heidrick and runs through Baileys Switch.

Between Baileys Switch and Gray, US-25E gradually turns more east–west. After running through Gray, the route serves as the northern terminus of KY 3041. The road then reunites with US-25W north of Corbin, and the unsuffixed US-25 continues to points north. However, the US-25E designation continues west to Interstate 75, where it ends at Exit 29.^[7]

History

Old US 25E sign in Cumberland Gap, Tennessee directing traffic to the former route over Cumberland Gap.

Before the Cumberland Gap Tunnel was opened in 1996, US 25E passed through the Cumberland Gap in Virginia. Prior to the U.S. highway system's arrival, Virginia's State Highway 10 began at the Cumberland Gap and proceeded to Bristol.^[8] A short spur south to Tennessee was soon added, becoming State Route 107 in the 1923 renumbering and State Route 100 in the 1928 renumbering.^[9]

Early U.S. Highway planning assigned the number U.S. Route 411 to SR 10 through Cumberland Gap to Kentucky, and no number to SR 107.^[10] By the final 1926 plan, US 411 was truncated to Cumberland Gap, and US 25E ran from Tennessee to Kentucky along SR 10 and SR 107.^[2] The State Route numbers were dropped in the 1933 renumbering.

The Cumberland Gap Tunnel opened in 1996, completely bypassing Cumberland Gap and Virginia. U.S. Route 58 was moved to a new alignment, meeting US 25E in Tennessee, and US 25E was decommissioned through Virginia. As it lay within the boundaries of the Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, the National Park Service now controls the former road, and decided to return it to its pre-pavement state. The pavement was torn up, and old US 25E is now a dirt path.^[11]

Major intersections

State	County	Location	mi^[7]^[12]^[13]^[14]	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Tennessee	Cocke	Newport	0.0	0.0		US 25 south / US 25W north / US 70 (SR 9 / SR 32 south / SR 35) to I-40 – Newport, Dandridge, Sevierville
	Jefferson		9.5	15.3		SR 341 west
	Jefferson	White Pine	11.1	17.9		SR 113 south – Dandridge	south end of SR 113 overlap
	Hamblen	White Pine	13.0	20.9		I-81 – Knoxville, Bristol	I-81 exit 8
		Morristown	14.8	23.8		SR 343 north
			15.5	24.9		SR 113 north	north end of SR 113 overlap
			17.1	27.5	1	SR 160	Interchange
			19	31	1A	College Square Drive/College Park Drive	Interchange
			19.5	31.4	2A	US 11E south (Morris Boulevard / SR 34) – Morristown	Interchange; south end of US 11E / SR 34 overlap
			19.8	31.9	2B	US 11E north (East A.J. Highway / SR 34) – Greeneville, Morristown	Interchange; north end of US 11E / SR 34 overlap
			22.3	35.9		SR 343 south – Morristown Central Business District	interchange
	Grainger	Bean Station	26.2	42.2		SR 375 south (Lake Shore Road)
			29.3	47.2		US 11W north (SR 1) – Rogersville	interchange; south end of US 11W / SR 1 overlap
			31.2	50.2		US 11W south (SR 1) – Rutledge, Knoxville	interchange; north end of US 11W / SR 1 overlap
			38.6	62.1		SR 131 – Washburn, Thorn Hill
	Claiborne		45.5	73.2		SR 33 north – Sneedville	south end of SR 33 overlap
		Tazewell	50.8	81.8		SR 33 south – New Tazewell, Maynardville, Knoxville	north end of SR 33 overlap
		Tazewell	51.3	82.6		SR 345 north (Cedar Fork)
		Harrogate	60.2	96.9		SR 63 east	south end of SR 63 overlap
		Harrogate	60.4	97.2		SR 63 west – LaFollette	north end of SR 63 overlap
			61.2	98.5		US 58 east (SR 383) – Cumberland Gap, TN, Jonesville, VA	interchange
Cumberland Gap			65.9 0.000	106.1 0.000	Cumberland Gap Tunnel
Kentucky	Bell	Cumberland Gap NHP	1.343	2.161		Cumberland Gap National Park Visitor Center & Craft Shop	interchange
		Middlesboro	1.719	2.766		KY 74 west – Airport
		Middlesboro	2.781	4.476		KY 441 west / KY 74 Truck west
			6.322	10.174		KY 3486 south
			6.402	10.303		KY 188 east
		Ferndale	8.313	13.378		KY 1534 north
			8.900	14.323		KY 3151 east
			11.604	18.675		KY 190 west – Chenoa, Frakes, Pine Mountain State Resort Park
		Pineville	12.355	19.883		US 119 north – Harlan, Martins Fork Lake
			13.460	21.662		KY 66 north to KY 221 – Red Bird Mission
			14.200	22.853		KY 2015 north
			17.360	27.938		KY 2014 east
			17.576	28.286		KY 92 west – Williamsburg, Whitley City
	Knox		19.075	30.698		KY 3085 south
			20.309	32.684		KY 3085 north
			21.543	34.670		KY 930 west
			21.709	34.937		KY 3085 south – Flat Lick
			22.471	36.164		KY 223 north – Dewitt
			24.081	38.755		KY 3439 west
			25.581	41.169		KY 1304 north to KY 11 – Bimble
		Barbourville	26.684	42.944		KY 3153 west
			27.418	44.125		KY 2415 north
			28.470	45.818		KY 225 south / KY 3439 east
			29.439	47.377		KY 11 south – Barbourville	south end of KY 11 overlap
			29.596	47.630		KY 2420 west – Downtown Barbourville
			30.205	48.610		KY 11 north – Manchester	north end of KY 11 overlap
			30.811	49.585		KY 1487 south
			31.206	50.221		KY 2418 south
			32.610	52.481		KY 3438 east
			33.124	53.308		KY 229 north – London
			34.437	55.421		KY 1527 east
			40.366	64.963		KY 233 – Gray
			42.227	67.958		KY 830
		Corbin	42.872	68.996		KY 3041 south to I-75 south
			44.301	71.296		KY 312 west
			44.593	71.765		KY 1629
	Laurel	North Corbin	45.192	72.729		US 25 north / US 25W south – Airport
			45.703	73.552		KY 3431 to KY 1223
			46.805– 46.872	75.325– 75.433		I-75 / KY 770 west – Knoxville, Lexington	I-75 exit 29
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

Popular culture

The northern section of US 25E from the Kentucky State line to Tazewell, along with the junctioning Tennessee SR-33 between Tazewell and Knoxville, were the inspiration for the song "The Ballad of Thunder Road", in which a moonshiner runs illegal whiskey from Kentucky to Tennessee along this route.

References

↑ Droz, Robert V. "US Highways: Divided (Split) Routes".
1 2 United States System of Highways Adopted for Uniform Marking by the American Association of State Highway Officials (Map). 1:7,000,000. Cartography by U.S. Geological Survey. Bureau of Public Roads. November 11, 1926. OCLC 32889555. Retrieved November 7, 2013.
↑ O'Neil, Duay (October 20, 2009). "Hwy 25 East is Now a National Scenic Byway". The Newport Plain Talk.
↑ ADHS Approved Corridors and Termini
↑ "Eastern Tennessee" (Map). The Road Atlas (2008 Large Scale ed.). Rand McNally. p. 193.
↑ Official Highway Map (Map) (2008 ed.). Kentucky Transportation Cabinet.
1 2 "HIS Official Milepoint Route Log Report (Laurel County)". Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. Retrieved January 19, 2010.
↑ State Highway Commission of Virginia (July 5, 1922). Minutes of the First Meeting of the State Highway Commission Created Under the Acts of 1922 (PDF) (Report). Richmond, VA: Commonwealth of Virginia. , Proposed "State Highway System" for Virginia, as Recommended by the State Roads Committee, January 1918
↑ "VA 100". Virginia Highways Project.
↑ Secretary of Agriculture (November 18, 1925). Report of Joint Board on Interstate Highways, October 30, 1925 (Report). US Department of Agriculture.
↑ Cumberland Gap National Historical Park Map (PDF) (Map). National Park Service.
↑ Google (January 19, 2010). "U.S. Route 25E" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved January 19, 2010.
↑ "HIS Official Milepoint Route Log Report (Bell County)". Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. Retrieved January 19, 2010.
↑ "HIS Official Milepoint Route Log Report (Knox County)". Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. Retrieved January 19, 2010.

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