U.S. Route 25E

U.S. Route 25E (US 25E) is the eastern branch of U.S. Route 25 from Newport, Tennessee, where US 25 splits into US 25E and US 25W, to North Corbin, Kentucky, where the two highways rejoin. The road, however, continues as US 25E for roughly 2 miles (3.2 km) until it joins Interstate 75 in North Corbin.

U.S. Route 25E
Route information
Auxiliary route of US 25
Maintained by KYTC and TDOT
Length	112 mi[1] (180 km)
Existed	November 26, 1926[2]–present
Major junctions
South end	US 25 / US 25W / US 70 in Newport, TN
	I-81 in Morristown, TN US 11E in Morristown, TN US 11W in Bean Station, TN SR 33 in Tazewell, TN SR 63 in Harrogate, TN US 58 at Cumberland Gap, TN KY 74 in Middlesboro, KY US 119 in Pineville, KY KY 11 in Barbourville, KY US 25 / US 25W in North Corbin, KY
North end	I-75 in North Corbin, KY
Location
States	Tennessee, Kentucky
Counties	TN: Cocke, Jefferson, Hamblen, Grainger, Claiborne KY: Bell, Knox, Laurel
Highway system
United States Numbered Highway System List Special Divided Highways in Kentucky Interstate U.S. State Parkways Tennessee State Routes Interstate U.S. State ← US 25 KY → US 25W ← US 25 TN → US 25W

All of US 25E in Tennessee, along with US 25 from Newport to the North Carolina state line is now designated as the East Tennessee Crossing Byway, a National Scenic Byway.[3] A portion of US 25E in Tennessee is also designated as Appalachian Development Corridor S. The corridor follows US 25E between I-81 in White Pine and State Route 63 (Corridor F) in Harrogate.[4]

In the 2013 fiscal year, 26.5 miles (42.6 km) has been completed of Corridor S along 25E, while 22.2 miles (35.7 km) remains to be constructed, which consists of rest areas and design and construction of interchanges to meet Interstate Highway standards along the stretch of 25E labeled Corridor S.[5][6]

Since 1982, US 25E from I-75 in North Corbin to I-81 in Morristown has been designated as a federal truck route in the National Truck Network.[7]

Since 1991, US 25E from its junction with I-75 in Corbin to I-81 to Morristown, has been recognized as High-Priority Corridor 12, part of the National Highway System.[8]

US 25E has been included in the U.S. Highway System since the system's inception in 1926.

US 25E is concurrent with unsigned Tennessee State Route 32 for its entire length in Tennessee.

Route description

Tennessee

Northbound US 25 and westbound US 70 leave Newport concurrent with one another. At an intersection west of the city, US 25 splits into two highways: US 25E, which heads north from this point as a two-lane highway, and US 25W, which continues west along a concurrency with US 70.[1]

US 25E then winds along the shoreline of Douglas Lake/French Broad River near the community of Gum Spring, and exits Cocke County after crossing the Douglas Lake impoundment of the French Broad River at the J.M. Walters Bridge.[1]

US 25E then enters Jefferson County east of Baneberry. Between White Pine and the Morristown neighborhood of Witt, the highway has an interchange with Interstate 81 (exit 8), and enters Hamblen County. North of the I-81, the road widens out to four lanes, and receives the Appalachian Development designation Corridor S. US 25E intersects US 11E east of Morristown. It then crosses the Cherokee Lake impoundment of the Holston River into Grainger County on the Olen Marshall Bridge.[1]

U.S. Route 25E descending the southern slope of Clinch Mountain towards Bean Station.

Between the interchange of SR 375 (Lakeshore Drive), old US 25E (Broadway Drive), and the interchange of US 11W/SR 1, US 25E becomes a controlled-access highway bypassing the town of Bean Station.[1]

The two roads split 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Bean Station near Briar Fork Creek at the base of Clinch Mountain, with US 11W heading west along the Richland Valley towards Knoxville, and US 25E northbound through Poor Valley ascending the southern slope of Clinch Mountain.[9]

Northwest of Tazewell, the road bridges the Powell River, and then passes through Harrogate. In the town of Cumberland Gap, Tennessee, US 25E serves as the western terminus of US 58. US 25E used that highway en route to the Cumberland Gap prior to 1996; however, it now uses a new highway leading to the Cumberland Gap Tunnel, freeing up a portion of road that US 58 now uses. US 25E then passes through the tunnel, emerging on the other side in Kentucky.[1]

Kentucky

US 25E remains a multilane divided highway for its entire extent in Kentucky.[10] Upon departing the tunnel, the road heads west to the town of Middlesboro, Kentucky, where it intersects KY 74. US 25E turns north at Middlesboro toward Pineville, the county seat of Bell County. In Pineville, the route is the western terminus of US 119.

US 25E departs Pineville and heads northwest, indirectly serving Tinsley via KY 92, crossing into Knox County, and bypassing Flat Lick to the west. The route makes an S-shaped curve, dipping south then turning back northwest as it approaches Barbourville. After serving the east side of Barbourville, the highway passes near Heidrick and runs through Baileys Switch.

Between Baileys Switch and Gray, US 25E gradually turns more east–west. After running through Gray, the route serves as the northern terminus of KY 3041. The road then reunites with US 25W north of Corbin, and the unsuffixed US 25 continues to points north. However, the US 25E designation continues west to Interstate 75, where it ends at Exit 29.[11]

History

US 25E in Grainger County, Tennessee in 1979

Before the Cumberland Gap Tunnel was opened in 1996, US 25E passed through the Cumberland Gap in Virginia. Prior to the U.S. highway system's arrival, Virginia's State Highway 10 began at the Cumberland Gap and proceeded to Bristol.[12] A short spur south to Tennessee was soon added, becoming State Route 107 in the 1923 renumbering, and State Route 100 in the 1928 renumbering.[13]

Early U.S. Highway planning assigned the number U.S. Route 411 to SR 10 through Cumberland Gap to Kentucky, and no number to SR 107.[14] By the final 1926 plan, US 411 was truncated to Cumberland Gap, and US 25E ran from Tennessee to Kentucky along SR 10 and SR 107.[2] The State Route numbers were dropped in the 1933 renumbering.

Through-out the 1970s to the 1990s, highway improvement projects conducted by a joint-effort between the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT), the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), began to widen US 25E between the town of Cumberland Gap to Interstate 81 south of the city of Morristown, which was designated as Corridor S of the ARC's Appalachian Development Highway System (ADHS).[15]

Following the signing of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act in 1991, the US 25E corridor from Corbin, Kentucky to Morristown, Tennessee was defined as High-Priority Corridor 12, establishing US 25E as part of the National Highway System.[8]

Before the completion of the Cumberland Gap Tunnel, US 25E saw increased congestion following an uptick in truck traffic bypassing I-75 through Campbell County and Knoxville.[16]

Cumberland Gap project

The Kentucky entrance of the Cumberland Gap Tunnel carrying US 25E, facing south to Tennessee

In the mid-to-late-20th century, US 25E between Middlesboro and Cumberland Gap had seen an uptick in fatal collisions, with the stretch of highway through the Cumberland Gap nicknamed "Massacre Mountain."[17] In 1973, officials with the National Park Service received initiatives to construct tunnels underneath the Cumberland Gap in order to resolve the accidents and restore the Cumberland Gap to its pioneer-era state of the 1770s, a motion set forth by the establishment of Cumberland Gap National Historical Park by the United States Congress in 1940. The plan, consisting of the construction of twin 4,600 foot long tunnels, five miles of new a four-lane controlled-access US 25E, two interchanges, seven bridges, and the restoration of the Cumberland Gap, was presented with a cost of $265 million dollars and was led by joint effort between the National Park Service and the Federal Highway Administration. Design work for the project started in 1979, and construction on the tunnels and the new four-lane 25E began in 1985.[17]

The Cumberland Gap Tunnel would open in 1996, completely bypassing Cumberland Gap and Virginia.[17] U.S. Route 58 was moved to a new alignment, meeting the new four-lane US 25E in Tennessee, decommissioning US 25E through Virginia. As old US 25E lied within the boundaries of the Cumberland Gap National Historical Park its pavement was torn up, and the path was restored into a hiking trail along the Wilderness Road through the Cumberland Gap.[18]

Major intersections

State	County	Location	mi[11][1][19][20]	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Tennessee	Cocke	Newport	0.0	0.0		US 25 south / US 25W north / US 70 (W Broadway Street/SR 9/SR 32 south/SR 35) to I-40 – Newport, Dandridge, Sevierville	Southern terminus of US 25E; US 25E south and US 25W merge to form US 25; southern end of unsigned SR 32 concurrency
	Douglas Lake/French Broad River				J. W. Walters Bridge
	Jefferson	​				Nina Road – Baneberry	Access road into Baneberry
		White Pine	9.5	15.3		SR 341 west (Old Airport Road) – Talbott	Eastern terminus of SR 341
			11.1	17.9		SR 113 south (Main Street) – Dandridge	Southern end of SR 113 concurrency
	Hamblen	Morristown	13.0	20.9		I-81 – Knoxville, Bristol	I-81 exit 8
			14.8	23.8		SR 343 north (Newport Highway) – Downtown	Southern terminus of SR 343
			15.5	24.9		SR 113 north – Whitesburg	Northern end of SR 113 concurrency
			17.1	27.5	1	SR 160 (Enka Highway)	Southern end of freeway; interchange
			19	31	1A	College Square Drive/College Park Drive	Interchange
			19.5	31.4	2A	US 11E south (Morris Boulevard/SR 34 west) – Morristown	Southern end of US 11E/SR 34 concurrency; interchange
			19.8	31.9	2B	US 11E north (East A.J. Highway/SR 34 east/SR 66) – Greeneville, Morristown	Northern end of US 11E/SR 34 concurrency; northern end of freeway; interchange
			22.3	35.9		SR 343 south (Buffalo Trail) – Morristown Central Business District	interchange; northern terminus of SR 343; southbound exit and northbound entrance; missing movements signed on Cherokee Park Road
	Cherokee Lake/Holston River				Olen R. Marshall Memorial Bridge
	Grainger	Bean Station	26.2	42.2		SR 375 south (Lakeshore Drive) – Cherokee	Northern terminus of SR 375
			29.3	47.2		US 11W north (New Lee Highway/SR 1 east) – Rogersville	Southern end of US 11W/SR 1 concurrency; interchange
			31.2	50.2		US 11W south (Lee Highway/SR 1 west) – Rutledge, Knoxville	Northern end of US 11W/SR 1 concurrency; interchange
		Thorn Hill	38.6	62.1		SR 131 (Mountain Valley Highway 131) – Washburn, Treadway
	Claiborne	​	45.5	73.2		SR 33 north – Sneedville	Southern end of SR 33 concurrency
		Tazewell	50.8	81.8		SR 33 south (N Broad Street) – New Tazewell, Maynardville	Northern end of SR 33 concurrency
			51.3	82.6		SR 345 north (Cedar Fork Road)	Southern terminus of SR 345
		Harrogate	60.2	96.9		SR 63 east (Forge Ridge Road) – Sneedville	Southern end of SR 63 concurrency
			60.4	97.2		SR 63 west (Appalachian Highway) – Arthur, Speedwell, Fincastle, LaFollette	Northern end of SR 63 concurrency
		Cumberland Gap	61.2	98.5		US 58 east (Wilderness Road/SR 383 east) – Jonesville, VA, Bristol, VA	Interchange; western terminus of US 58/SR 383
Cumberland Gap			65.9 0.000	106.1 0.000	Cumberland Gap Tunnel
Kentucky	Bell	Cumberland Gap NHP	1.343	2.161		Cumberland Gap National Park Visitor Center & Craft Shop	Interchange
		Middlesboro	1.719	2.766		KY 74 west – Airport
			2.781	4.476		KY 441 west / KY 74 Truck west
		​	6.322	10.174		KY 3486 south
		​	6.402	10.303		KY 188 east
		Ferndale	8.313	13.378		KY 1534 north
		​	8.900	14.323		KY 3151 east
		​	11.604	18.675		KY 190 west – Chenoa, Frakes, Pine Mountain State Resort Park
		Pineville	12.355	19.883		US 119 north – Harlan, Martins Fork Lake
			13.460	21.662		KY 66 north to KY 221 – Red Bird Mission
			14.200	22.853		KY 2015 north
		​	17.360	27.938		KY 2014 east
		​	17.576	28.286		KY 92 west – Williamsburg, Whitley City
	Knox	​	19.075	30.698		KY 3085 south
		​	20.309	32.684		KY 3085 north
		​	21.543	34.670		KY 930 west
		​	21.709	34.937		KY 3085 south – Flat Lick
		​	22.471	36.164		KY 223 north – Dewitt
		​	24.081	38.755		KY 3439 west
		​	25.581	41.169		KY 1304 north to KY 11 – Bimble
		Barbourville	26.684	42.944		KY 3153 west
			27.418	44.125		KY 2415 north
			28.470	45.818		KY 225 south / KY 3439 east
			29.439	47.377		KY 11 south – Barbourville	Southern end of KY 11 concurrency
			29.596	47.630		KY 2420 west – Downtown Barbourville
			30.205	48.610		KY 11 north – Manchester	Northern end of KY 11 concurrency
		​	30.811	49.585		KY 1487 south
		​	31.206	50.221		KY 2418 south
		​	32.610	52.481		KY 3438 east
		​	33.124	53.308		KY 229 north – London
		​	34.437	55.421		KY 1527 east
		​	40.366	64.963		KY 233 – Gray
		​	42.227	67.958		KY 830
		Corbin	42.872	68.996		KY 3041 south to I-75 south
			44.301	71.296		KY 312 west
			44.593	71.765		KY 1629
	Laurel	North Corbin	45.192	72.729		US 25 north / US 25W south – Airport	US 25W and US 25E north merge to form US 25; US 25E signage continues
			45.703	73.552		KY 3431 to KY 1223
			46.805– 46.872	75.325– 75.433		I-75 / KY 770 west – Knoxville, Lexington	I-75 exit 29; northern terminus of US 25E
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access       Route transition

See also

•  U.S. roads portal
•  United States portal

References

1. Google (January 2, 2021). "U.S. Route 25E" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
2. 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.
3. O'Neil, Duay (October 20, 2009). "Hwy 25 East is Now a National Scenic Byway". The Newport Plain Talk. Archived from the original on July 14, 2011. Retrieved October 23, 2009.
4. "ADHS Approved Corridors and Termini". Archived from the original on November 1, 2007.
5. "Appalachian Development Highway System Completion Plan Report" (PDF). Appalachian Regional Commission. September 2013. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
6. "Status of Corridors in Tennessee" (PDF). Appalachian Regional Commission. September 30, 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 5, 2014. Retrieved June 30, 2014.
7. Office of Highway Policy Information. "Figure 1-4: National Truck Network". Our Nation's Highways 2008. Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
8. "Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991, as Amended, §§1105(c)(12) and (f)(25)". Government Publishing Office. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
9. "Eastern Tennessee" (Map). The Road Atlas (2008 Large Scale ed.). Rand McNally. p. 193.
10. Official Highway Map (Map) (2008 ed.). Kentucky Transportation Cabinet.
11. "HIS Official Milepoint Route Log Report (Laurel County)". Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. Retrieved January 19, 2010.
12. State Highway Commission of Virginia (July 5, 1922). Minutes of the First Meeting of the State Highway Commission Created Under the Acts of 1922 (PDF) (Report). Richmond, VA: Commonwealth of Virginia., Proposed "State Highway System" for Virginia, as Recommended by the State Roads Committee, January 1918
13. "VA 100". Virginia Highways Project.
14. Secretary of Agriculture (November 18, 1925). Report of Joint Board on Interstate Highways, October 30, 1925 (Report). US Department of Agriculture.
15. SR-32 Relocation, Appalachian Corridor S, Indian Creek to Briar Fork Creek, Grainger County Environmental Impact Statement. United States Federal Highway Administration. 1975. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
16. Merchant, Heidi (October 15, 1999). "Cumberland Gap Tunnel Paves the Way for Economic Development". Union Express. Archived from the original on September 25, 2004. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
17. "Cumberland Gap Highway Tunnel Celebrates 15th Anniversary". Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. National Park Service. October 11, 2011. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
18. Cumberland Gap National Historical Park Map (PDF) (Map). National Park Service.
19. "HIS Official Milepoint Route Log Report (Bell County)". Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. Retrieved January 19, 2010.
20. "HIS Official Milepoint Route Log Report (Knox County)". Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. Retrieved January 19, 2010.

External links

• US 25 at KentuckyRoads.com
• Kentucky Transportation Cabinet
• Tennessee Department of Transportation