Tennessee State Route 396

State Route 396 (SR 396), commonly referred to as Saturn Parkway, is a 4.75-mile-long (7.64 km) primary state route located in Maury County and Williamson County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It provides direct access between the General Motors Spring Hill Manufacturing plant and Interstate 65, and takes its name from Saturn Corporation, a subsidiary of General Motors that operated the plant from 1990 to 2004 as its sole manufacturing facility.

State Route 396
Saturn Parkway
Route information
Maintained by TDOT
Length4.75 mi[1] (7.64 km)
Existed1989–present
Major junctions
West end US 31 in Spring Hill
East end I-65 near Spring Hill
Location
CountiesMaury, Williamson
Highway system
← SR 395→ SR 397

Route description

SR 396, also known as Saturn Parkway, is a divided four-lane access-controlled facility located in Middle Tennessee approximately 42.2 miles (67.9 km)[2] south of Nashville. SR 396 begins at U.S. Route 31 (US 31) in Spring Hill and provides a direct connection to Interstate 65 (I-65). This route provides direct service to the General Motors (formerly Saturn Corporation) Spring Hill Manufacturing complex at its western terminus in Spring Hill. SR 396 has only two interchanges on its short journey allowing access to Kedron Road and Port Royal Road.

History

TDOT announced plans to build SR 396 on September 11, 1985, for a price of $29.3 million (equivalent to $60.3 million in 2019[3]) to provide access to the then-future Saturn Plant, which had been announced earlier that year.[4] The environmental impact statement for the route was approved by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) on October 17, 1986.[5] Contracts to construct SR 396 were awarded in November 1987,[6] and construction began in January 1988. The route opened on August 7, 1989; the final price tag was $37 million ($67.7 million in 2019[3]).[7] The GM plant began operations the next year. TDOT considered using SR 396 for a section of Interstate 840, an outer southern bypass around Nashville, but planners ultimately chose a route approximately 6 miles (9.7 km) to the north.[8]

On May 30, 2018, work began on a 1.3 miles (2.1 km) long extension of SR 396 from US 31 to SR 247 (Beechcroft Road).[9] The project also involves modifying the interchange with US 31 and widening and intersection improvements on SR 247.[10]

Major intersections

The entire route is in Spring Hill.

Countymi[11]kmDestinationsNotes
Maury0.00.0Spring Hill Manufacturing entranceWestern terminus
0.1–
0.9		0.16–
1.4		 US 31 (Nashville Highway / Main Street / SR 6) – Spring Hill, ColumbiaModified cloverleaf interchange
1.5–
2.2		2.4–
3.5		Kedron RoadDiamond interchange
3.2–
3.9		5.1–
6.3		Port Royal RoadDiamond interchange
Maury–Williamson
county line		4.5–
5.7		7.2–
9.2		 I-65 – Nashville, HuntsvilleTrumpet interchange; eastern terminus; I-65 exit 53
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References
  1. TDOT Region 3 Pavement Condition Data
  2. Tennessee Department of Transportation County Maps and City Maps
  3. Thomas, Ryland; Williamson, Samuel H. (2020). "What Was the U.S. GDP Then?". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved September 22, 2020. United States Gross Domestic Product deflator figures follow the Measuring Worth series.
  4. Sherman, Joe (1994). In the Rings of Saturn. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-507244-8.
  5. Tennessee Department of Transportation (1986). Connector Hwy (proposed) from SR-6 to I-65, Serving Saturn Corporation Plant, Maury/Williamson Counties: Environmental Impact Statement (Report). Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved October 26, 2020 – via Google Books.
  6. "Two Saturn parkway contracts awarded". The Tennessean. Nashville. November 25, 1987. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. Barlow, Randy (August 8, 1989). "Saturn Parkway Officially Open; Final Work Will Take 6–8 Weeks". The Tennessean. Nashville. p. 4. Retrieved August 23, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. Ease, Jim (February 13, 1990). "I-840 headed across land of McWherter backer". The Tennessean. p. 9. Retrieved October 24, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. "Saturn Parkway extension, Beechcroft Road widening to begin May 30". Williamson Herald. Franklin, Tennessee. May 17, 2018. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
  10. "State Route 396 Saturn Parkway Extension". tn.gov. Tennessee Department of Transportation. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
  11. Google (June 29, 2018). "Tennessee State Route 396" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved June 29, 2018.

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