State Route 26 (SR 26) is an east–west highway in Middle Tennessee. The road begins in Lebanon and ends in Sparta. The current length is 59.25 mi (95.4 km).[2]
 State Route 26 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by TDOT | ||||
| Length | 59.25 mi (95.35 km) | |||
| Existed | October 1, 1923[1]–present | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| East end |   US 70 / SR 1 – Sparta | |||
| West end |  US 70 / US 70 Bus. – Lebanon | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | Tennessee | |||
| Counties | Wilson, DeKalb, White | |||
| Highway system | ||||
| ||||
Route description
editWilson County
editThe highway runs an unsigned concurrency with U.S. Route 70 for its entire existence. It begins at an intersection with U.S. Route 70 Business and US 70 in Lebanon as US 70 and State Route 24 move east from Mt. Juliet. SR 26 moves around north Lebanon with US 70 as SR 24 continues with Business 70 through downtown Lebanon. At this point, SR 26/US 70 is known as West Baddour Pkwy and later as East High St. SR 26 then continues south on the east side of town as Sparta Pike, intersecting SR 24 once more, this time it is concurrent with US 70N, before leaving Lebanon. The concurrency moves southeast, passing under Interstate 40 on its way to Watertown.
DeKalb County
editSR 26/US 70 continues through Watertown and moves into DeKalb County, becoming Nashville Highway as it moves through the towns of Alexandria, Liberty, and Dowelltown. During this time SR 26/US 70 runs two concurrencies with SR 53 (from Liberty to Alexandria) and SR 96 (from Liberty to just west of Smithville) with the routes briefly overlapping in Liberty so that all four routes run together.
After leaving Dowelltown, the highways go up a hill and end the concurrency with SR 96 at the top. SR 26/US 70 moves through Smithville as West Broad St, later East Broad St, and moves east, becoming Sparta Highway as it does so. It then crosses Center Hill Lake and moves into White County.
White County
editIt moves into the west side of Sparta and becomes West Brockman Way before having an interchange with SR 111 and US 70S, where US 70S ends, before entering downtown and coming to an end at an intersection with SR 1, which US 70 continues east concurrent with towards Crossville.[3]
History
editUntil US 70 was commissioned in Tennessee in 1926, the route was signed solely as SR 26. Prior to the 1930s, SR 26 followed its current route in its entirety (except for any later bypasses), but turned north on a path towards Cookeville to intersect SR 24.[4] That segment would later become SR 42 in the 1930s, and then SR 111 by the mid 1970s.
Major intersections
edit| County | Location | mi | km | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wilson | Lebanon | 0.0 | 0.0 |   US 70 Bus. east / US 70 west (W Main Street/SR 24) – Downtown Lebanon, Mount Juliet | Western end of US 70 concurrency; western terminus of US 70 Bus and SR 26 |
 US 231 (North Cumberland Street/SR 10) – Westmoreland, Murfreesboro | |||||
  SR 266 south (N College Street) – Norene | Northern terminus of SR 266 | ||||
  SR 141 north (Hartsville Pike) – Hartsville | Western end of SR 141 concurrency | ||||
 US 70N east / US 70 Bus. west (E Main Street/SR 24) – Carthage, Lebanon Business District | Eastern terminus of US 70 Bus; Western terminus of US 70N | ||||
| SR 141 east (Trousdale Ferry Pike) – Gordonsville | Eastern end of SR 141 concurrency | ||||
 I-40 – Nashville, Knoxville | I-40 Exit 239A-B eastbound and 239 westbound | ||||
| |    SR 265 west (Trammel Lane) to I-840 – Hermitage | Eastern terminus of SR 265; provides access to Cedars of Lebanon State Park | |||
| Watertown |  SR 267 south (Statesville Road) – Statesville | Northern terminus of SR 267 | |||
| DeKalb | Alexandria |  SR 53 north (Brush Creek Road) – Gordonsville | Western end of SR 53 concurrency | ||
| |  SR 96 west – Auburntown, Murfreesboro | Western end of SR 96 concurrency | |||
| Liberty | SR 53 south (Woodbury Highway) – Woodbury | Eastern end of SR 53 concurrency | |||
| |  SR 96 east (Dale Ridge Road) – Center Hill Dam | Eastern end of SR 96 concurrency | |||
| Smithville |  SR 83 (New Home Road/Allen Ferry Road) | Partial loop around Smithville | |||
 SR 146 south (South Mountain Street) | Northern terminus of SR 146 | ||||
 SR 56 (Congress Boulevard) – Baxter, McMinnville | |||||
| White | |  SR 136 (Old Kentucky Road) – Cookeville, Rock Island | Provides access to Rock Island State Park | ||
| Sparta |   US 70S west / SR 111 (Spencer Highway) – Cookeville, McMinnville, Spencer | Eastern terminus of US 70S; interchange | |||
| 59.25 | 95.35 |  SR 1 / US 70 east (Mayberry Street/W Bockman Way) to SR 111 – McMinnville, Crossville | Eastern terminus; US 70 continues east along SR 1 towards Crossville | ||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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See also
edit
References
edit- ^ Highway Planning Survey Division (1925). Biennial Report of the Commissioner of the Department of Highways and Public Works State of Tennessee for the Years 1923 and 1924 (PDF) (Report). Nashville: Tennessee Department of Highways and Public Works. pp. 39–44. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
- ^ Microsoft MapPoint 2006, Retrieved on 2007-8-13
- ^ "Get Driving Directions, Live Traffic & Road Conditions - MapQuest".
- ^ Austin Peay Campaign Committee (1926). Highway Map of Tennessee Showing the Construction Progress During 8 Year Period 1918–1926, on Federal and State Aid Roads (Map). Scale not given. Nashville: Austin Peay Campaign Committee – via Tennessee Virtual Archive.