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According to allcitycodes, US 70 is a US Highway in the US state of Tennessee. The road forms a long east-west route across the state, from the Tennessee border through Memphis, Nashville, and Knoxville to the North Carolina border. In addition, US 70 has two suffixed routes, namely US 70N between Lebanon and Crossville and US 70S between Nashville and Sparta, bringing the total length of US 70 within the state to 1,077 kilometers.

Travel directions

US 64/70/79 in Memphis.

US 70 near McMinnville.

US 70 in Arkansas comes from West Memphis and crosses the Mississippi River, then crosses the city of Memphis. US 70 more or less follows Interstate 40, passing through Jackson, Nashville, and Knoxville. The route sometimes extends up to about 15 miles from I-40, but is mostly single-lane except in urban areas. US 70 traverses the diverse landscape of Tennessee, particularly in the eastern part of the state where US 70 crosses the Appalachian Mountains.

US 70A

US 70A (alternate) is a 100-kilometer route between Brownsville and Huntingdon in the western part of the state. Much of the route coincides with US 79. East of Milan is a short section that has been developed as a 2×2 divided highway, but the rest is single-lane. The section between US 79 north of Milan and Huntingdon has a more secondary character.

US 70N

The US 70N is a 159 kilometer route from Lebanon to Crossville. The route runs parallel to I-40, where US 70 itself runs a little further south. The road is mainly single carriageway and leads through the town of Cookeville.

US 70S

US 70S runs from Nashville to Sparta, detouring through Murfreesboro and McMinnville, making it the least used branch of US 70. The route is largely a divided highway with 2×2 lanes for regional commuter traffic.

History

US 70 is one of the original US Highways of 1926. US 70 is special in that it is the only east-west US Highway to be split, and also the only split route to keep its main route, so there are 3 routes off US 70 east of Nashville. Originally, the splits started and ended in the same place, from Pegram to Crossville. Due to unnecessary duplication of US 70 and US 70N or US 70S, the split routes were subsequently shortened. The splits also make US 70 the longest US Highway within one state east of the Mississippi River, although US 98 in Florida is nearly as long and has no split routes.

Memphis – Nashville

Due to the construction of I-40 between Memphis and Nashville in the period 1963-1966, US 70 has only been upgraded to a limited extent. The main 4-lane sections are approach roads from larger towns, but no longer sections have been widened to 4 lanes. However, between Jackson and Nashville, I-40 has been constructed 20 miles south of US 70, through an area of ​​few places larger than a small town. As a result, US 70 still has some significance for regional traffic.

Ring roads or bypasses have been built at Brownsville, Huntingdon, Camden and Dickson. Huntingdon’s southern bypass was built in the late 1980s. The Camden diversion was completed around 1985. In 1940, the Hickman Lockhart Memorial Bridge opened over the Tennessee River at New Johnsonville. This bridge was replaced in 1980 by a concrete bridge with 4 lanes. At the end of the 1980s, a diversion with 2×2 lanes was realized at Waverly.

Nashville – Knoxville

In the period 1960-1969 most of I-40 between Nashville and Knoxville was built, this is also the reason that US 70 has seen few upgrades. In contrast to west of Nashville, east of Nashville, I-40 largely extends northerly than US 70. In the suburban area between Nashville and Lebanon, US 70 has been partially widened to a 5-lane road with a center turn lane, and this also applies to the suburban area around Knoxville, but few road upgrades have been made elsewhere.

A truss bridge over the Clinch River at Kingston was built in 1929-1931. The bridge had to be dimensioned larger than just the Clinch River, due to the construction of the Watts Bar Dam at the same time. The construction of the dam created Watts Bar Lake in 1942, causing the water level to rise and US 70 at Kingston spanning not a river, but a lake. This bridge was replaced in 2006 by a modern concrete bridge. West of Rockwood, a historic arch bridge over Piney Creek was also built in 1929-1931.

Eastern Tennessee

East of Knoxville, I-40 was also built parallel to US 70 in the 1960s, so the road has not seen major upgrades here either, except in the suburban area around Knoxville. US 25E/US 70 originally crossed the French Broad River via a 1933 truss bridge. The bridge was modified in 1942 due to the construction of the dam that created Douglas Lake. The bridge was replaced in 2002 by a standard girder bridge.

US 70S

In the 1980s, the section between Belle Meade and Smyrna was widened to 2×2 lanes, and in 1991 between Smyrna and Murfreesboro. Later in the 1990s, the section between Murfreesboro and Woodbury was also widened to 2×2.

Between 2006 and 2014, the last part of the US 70S was widened to a 2×2 divided highway between Woodbury and McMinnville. A new route has been constructed here to the north of the old route, which was opened to traffic for 20 kilometers on 25 November 2014.

Between 1994 and 2002, the US 70S between McMinnville and Sparta was widened to 2×2 lanes, and a semi-level grade bypass was constructed around McMinnville.