U.S. Route 27 in Tennessee

This article is about the section of U.S. Route 27 in Tennessee. For the entire route, see U.S. Route 27.

U.S. Route 27
Route information
Maintained by TDOT
Existed:	1926 – present
Major junctions
South end:	US 27 at the Georgia state line
North end:	US 27 at the Kentucky state line
Location
Counties:	Hamilton , Rhea, Roane, Morgan, Scott
Highway system
United States Numbered Highways List Bannered Divided Replaced Tennessee State Routes Interstate US State ← SR 26 SR 28 x20px →

U.S. Route 27 in Tennessee runs from the Georgia state line in Chattanooga to the Kentucky state line in Scott County.

Route description

US 27 at its intersection with SR 303, near Graysville

US 27 enters Tennessee from Walker County, Georgia, as a four-lane highway. The route comes to an interchange with Interstate 24 (I-24) and briefly runs concurrently before splitting off as a freeway.

Freeway segment

Beginning ate I-24, and ending at State Route 111 (SR 111]], )the route is a controlled-access highway for approximately 30 miles (48 km). The highway runs for approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km), with interchanges for Martin Luther King Boulevard and Fourth Street. The highway then crosses the Tennessee River on the P.R. Olgiati Bridge and comes to an intersection with Manufacturer's Road. The highway crosses Stringer's Ridge where U.S. Route 127 begins, and Dayton Pike (the original route of US 27) splits off and goes through Red Bank. From here, the route is part of Corridor J of the Appalachian Highway Development System. The route then runs on top of a ridge and bypasses Red Bank, and comes to an interchange with SR 153 southbound and Dayton Pike northbound (once again, the old route of US 27). The route continues north, bypassing Soddy-Daisy, with an interchange at Sequoyah Access Road, the main route to the Sequoyah Nuclear Power Plant, and then SR 319 (Hixson Pike). The route then runs along the Tennessee river and SR 111 splits off to the northwest for Dunlap, where the freeway ends. The freeway continues on SR 111.

Hamilton County to Kentucky line

US 27 continues as a four-lane divided highway through the small communities of Sale Creek and Graysville before crossing into Rhea County, and reaching Graysville. The route then enters Dayton. At Dayton, it intersects SR 30, which connects Dayton with Pikeville to the west and Decatur to the east, and SR 60, which connects Dayton with Cleveland to the southeast. US 27 continues northward through Evensville before arriving at Spring City. At Spring City, it intersects SR 68, which connects the area to Crossville, atop the plateau to the west, and Sweetwater to the east.

From here, US 27 enters Roane County, running concurrently with US 70 going through the city of Rockwood. After US 70 splits to the east, US 27 runs concurrently with SR 61 through Harriman, where it is crossed by I-40. During this stretch, it forms part of the Harvey H. Hannah Memorial Highway, and is signed as such. Just beyond Harriman, near the DeArmond community, US 27 ascends the Cumberland Plateau, and continues northward across the plateau for its remaining 55 miles (89 km) or so in Tennessee.

In Morgan County, the highway passes through Wartburg and Sunbright. At the community of Elgin, it intersects SR 52, which connects the area with the historic village of Rugby and Fentress County to the west. Beyond Elgin, US 27 passes through Robbins, Huntsville, and Helenwood before reaching Oneida in Scott County. In Oneida, US 27 intersects SR 297, which continues westward into the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area. Winfield is the last sizable town that US 27 passes through in Tennessee before it reaches the community of Isham on the Kentucky border.

History

The route in Hamilton County was removed from its original location to build the controlled-access highway. The original route ran across the Market Street Bridge, and becomes what is now called Dayton Pike, which then runs through Red Bank, east of the current route, and Soddy-Daisy, west of the current route. The majority of this route still remains, and is sometimes referred to as "Old US 27" or "Old 27."

The first part of the controlled-access segment, the only original planned segment was built in the late 1950s by moving dirt from nearby Cameron Hill. This segment extends from I-24 to Dayton Pike. This route was once signed as I-124. The designation still exists, but it is no longer signed. The controlled-access highway between Dayton Pike and SR 111 was built between the mid-1970s and early 1980s. SR 111 was extended across Walden Ridge at around the same time.

The entire route has been widened to a four-lane highway all the way to the split with SR 61.

Beginning in February 1999, the Olgiati bridge was widened from four to six lanes. This was accomplished by attaching steel beams to the top of the posts over the river. Also in this project, a ramp was added from the bridge on the north side to Manufacturer's Road, replacing a cloverleaf loop ramp which diverged past the ramp. The project, after many delays, was completed in February 2003.

Beginning in the middle of 2012, the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) began rebuilding US 27 from the Olgiati Bridge to the interchange with US 127. The project involved the replacement of old bridges, widening from two lanes each way to three or four lanes each way, and construction of several retaining walls. Preparations for this project had begun in December 2011. The project was completed in early 2015, months ahead of schedule.

In December 2015, TDOT began a $126 million reconstruction project to rebuild US 27 from I-24 to the recently reconstructed part. The project will widen the route from the existing two or three lanes each direction to three or four lanes each direction (including two more across the Olgiati), straighten out curvy sections, rework the Fourth Street and Martin Luther King interchanges, and add retaining walls. The project is expected to be complete by the middle of 2019. The substructure of the Olgiati Bridge was built wider than the superstructure in anticipation of future widening in the first widening project.