U.S. Route 31 in Tennessee

U.S. Route 31
Route information
	Maintained by TDOT
Length	181.0 mi (291.3 km)
Existed	November 11, 1926[1]–present
Major junctions
South end	I-65 / US 31 at Alabama state line
	I-65 near Elkton; ; US 31 Alt. at Pulaski; US 412 / US 43 at Columbia; US 431 at Franklin; ; US 41 / US 41 Alt. / US 70S / US 431 at Nashville; I-24 at Nashville; US 31E / US 31W / US 431 at Nashville;
North end	US 31E / SR 6 / US 31W at Kentucky state line
Location
Counties	Giles, Maury, Williamson, Davidson, Sumner, Robertson
Highway system

U.S. Route 31 (US 31) is a part of the United States Numbered Highway System that runs from Spanish Fort, Alabama, to Mackinaw City, Michigan. In the U.S. state of Tennessee, it runs concurrently with Interstate 65 (I-65) for the first mile northward from the Tennessee state line. There US 31 parallels I-65 to downtown Nashville. At Pulaski US 31 meets the southern terminus of US 31A in Tennessee. US 31 continues due north through Lynnville, Columbia, Spring Hill, Franklin and Brentwood to Nashville. The route splits into US 31E and US 31W in Nashville and go into Kentucky.

Route description

The first mile of US 31 in Tennessee runs concurrently with I-65. US 31 then goes through Elkton before going through mainly rural countryside until it has a interchange with US 64 Bypass (US 64 Byp.) on the outskirts of Pulaski. US 31 gains the name 1st Street through Pulaski; upon leaving Pulaski US 31 meets the southern terminus of US 31A (Grigsby Street). US 31 goes through more rural countryside on its way to Columbia. In Columbia, US 31 picks up the names Carmack Boulevard and Garden Street; it also has a short concurrency with US 412 Business (US&nbsop;412 Bus.) and intersects the northern terminus of US 43. After leaving Columbia, US 31 gains two designations, first it gains a Tennessee Parkway designation from Columbia to Rosa L. Parks Boulevard in Nashville, and then it picks up the hidden State Route 6 (SR 6), which it keeps later as US 31E to the Tennessee state line. US 31 goes through some more rural countryside before meeting the western terminus of SR 396 (Saturn Parkway) in Spring Hill and gains the name 1st Street. After leaving Spring Hill, US 31 has a interchange with I-840. US 31 then continues into Franklin, where mainline US 31 makes a turns east onto SR 397 (Mack Hatcher Memorial Parkway), while US 31 Bus. goes along US 31's former routing through Franklin. US 31 then runs concurrently with mainline US 431 (Lewisburg Pike) until it leaves at the northern end of Business US 31. US 31 then goes through the Nasville suburb of Brentwood as Franklin Road. While in Brentwood, US 31 has three important interchanges with SR 441 (Moores Lane), SR 253 (Concord Road) and SR 254 (Old Hickory Boulevard). US 31 next goes through the city of Oak Hill, and then arrives in Nashville.^[2]

US 31 next gains the name 8th Avenue and a while later overlaps US 41 (Lafayette Street), US 70S and US 41A. After going over Broadway (US 70 and US 431), US 31 picks up US 431, loses US 70S and gains the name Rosa L. Parks Boulevard. US 31, US 431 and US 41 and US 41A then go around the Tennessee State Capitol Building and lose US 41A, the Rosa L. Parks name and the Tennessee Parkway designation. US 31, US 431 and US 41 then go over the Cumberland River on the Victory Memorial Bridge. US 31, US 431 and US 41 then have a interchange with I-24. Immediately after the I-24 interchange, US 31E splits off (as Ellington Parkway) from US 31, US 41 US 431 and creating the beginning of the U.S. Route 31E–US 31W split.^[2]

US 31E is called Ellington Parkway until its overlap with SR 155 (Briley Parkway) between exits 15 and 14. US 31E then changes names to Johnny Cash Parkway. US 31E then goes through Hendersonville, picks up the name Nashville Pike and has a incomplete interchange with SR 386 (Vietnam Veterans Parkway). US 31E then goes through Gallatin, meets the northern terminus of SR 386 and US 31E Bypass. US 31E then goes through rural countryside, picks up US 231 at Westmoreland. US 31E and US 231 the go through more rural countryside until the Tennessee state border (where the northern terminus of SR 6 is). US 31E and US 231 stay concurrent into Kentucky.^[2]

As for US 31W, US 41 and US 431 they change names a total of two times, first from Spring Street to then Dickerson Pike. US 431 leaves the congruence at Trinty Lane, leaving US 31W, US 41 to carry on. US 31W, US 41 then have a incomplete interchange with SR 155 and I-65. US 31W, US 41 split just north of Goodlettsville. US 31W has a interchange with I-65. US 31W the goes through rural countryside until getting to White House. US 31W then goes through more rural countryside until reaching the Tennessee state border, where it crosses in Kentucky.^[2]

History

US 31 through Tennessee was one of the original 1926 highways.^[3] that was approved on November 11, 1926.^[1]

Major intersections

County	Location	Destinations	Notes
Giles		I-65 / US 31	Continuation south into Alabama
		I-65	Northern end of I-65 concurrency; I-65 exit 1
	Elkton	SR 273 – Prospect	Southern end of SR 273 concurrency
	Elkton	SR 273 – Fayetteville	Northern end of SR 273 concurrency
		US 64 Byp.
	Pulaski	SR 15
	Pulaski	US 31 Alt. – Lewisburg
	Waco	SR 129 – Lynnville, Cornersville
Maury	Columbia	SR 50 – Lewisburg, Centerville
		US 412 Bus.	Southern end of US 412 Bus. concurrency
		SR 7 – Santa Fe
		US 412 / US 412 Bus. / SR 6 / SR 99 – Hohenwald, Lexington, Jackson	Northern end of US 412 Bus. concurrency
		SR 246 – Franklin
	Spring Hill	SR 396 – to I-65	Interchange
	Spring Hill	SR 247 – Duplex, Santa Fe
Williamson	Thompson's Station	I-840 – Murfreesboro	I-840 exit 28
	Thompson's Station	SR 248 – Franklin
	Franklin	US 31 Bus.
		US 431 / US 431 Bus. – Duplex, Lewisburg	Southern end of US 431 concurrency
		SR 96 – Murfreesboro
		US 431 / US 31 Bus. – Nashville	Northern end of US 431 concurrency
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Concurrency terminus

References

1 2 McNichol, Dan (2006). The Roads that Built America. New York: Sterling. p. 74. ISBN 1-4027-3468-9. OCLC 63377558.
1 2 3 4 Tennessee Department of Transportation (2014). Tennessee: 2014 Official Transportation Map (Map). c. 1:633,600. Nashville: Tennessee Department of Transportation. §§ A8–E7.
↑ Bureau of Public Roads & American Association of State Highway Officials (November 11, 1926). United States System of Highways Adopted for Uniform Marking by the American Association of State Highway Officials (Map). 1:7,000,000. Washington, DC: United States Geological Survey. OCLC 32889555. Retrieved November 7, 2013 – via Wikimedia Commons.

U.S. Route 31
Previous state: Alabama	Tennessee	Next state: Kentucky

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[mcnichol-1] 1 2 McNichol, Dan (2006). The Roads that Built America. New York: Sterling. p. 74. ISBN 1-4027-3468-9. OCLC 63377558.

[TDOT14-2] 1 2 3 4 Tennessee Department of Transportation (2014). Tennessee: 2014 Official Transportation Map (Map). c. 1:633,600. Nashville: Tennessee Department of Transportation. §§ A8–E7.

[USH-3] Bureau of Public Roads & American Association of State Highway Officials (November 11, 1926). United States System of Highways Adopted for Uniform Marking by the American Association of State Highway Officials (Map). 1:7,000,000. Washington, DC: United States Geological Survey. OCLC 32889555. Retrieved November 7, 2013 – via Wikimedia Commons.