Interstate 75 in Tennessee

Interstate 75
Route information
Maintained by TDOT
Length:	161.86 mi[1] (260.49 km)
Existed:	1963[2] – present
Major junctions
South end:	I‑75 at Georgia state line
	I-24 in Chattanooga I-40 in Knoxville I-640 in Knoxville I-275 in Knoxville
North end:	I-75 at Kentucky state line
Location
Counties:	Hamilton, Bradley, McMinn, Monroe, Loudon, Knox, Anderson, Campbell
Highway system
Interstate Highway System Main Auxiliary Suffixed Business Tennessee State Routes Interstate US State ← SR 74 SR 75 →

In the U.S. state of Tennessee, Interstate 75 (I-75) runs from Chattanooga to Jellico by way of Knoxville. Interstate 75 enters the East Tennessee region following the Tennessee Valley from Georgia, all the way through Knoxville to near Rocky Top, then climbs into the Cumberland Mountains before crossing over into Kentucky at Jellico.

Route description

Interstate 75 enters Tennessee at the southern edge of Chattanooga. It then angles northeasterly past Cleveland, Athens, and Sweetwater. On the far western edge of Knoxville, it becomes concurrent with Interstate 40, and the two routes continue northeasterly through western Knoxville before Interstate 75 departs, bypassing downtown Knoxville before turning to the north again and continuing through largely rural mountain terrain into Kentucky.

History

I-75 north, along its concurrency with I-40 east in Knoxville

Interstate 75 originally continued into downtown Knoxville then turned to the north at Malfunction Junction, following what is now signed as Interstate 275. When the western section of Interstate 640 was completed in 1982, Interstate 75 was moved to overlap the auxiliary route to divert through traffic away from downtown in preparation for the 1982 World's Fair. This concurrency is somewhat unusual in that the exit numbers and mile markers follow the auxiliary route I-640 instead of Interstate 75 mileage.

On December 11, 1990, a 99 vehicle accident occurred in dense fog outside Calhoun that resulted in 12 deaths and 56 injuries.^[3] The accident was later profiled on the show Forensic Files.

In March 2005, the southbound lanes of Interstate 75 were shut down between mile marker 141 to 143 in Campbell County due to a rockslide below the roadway that caused the pavement to partially collapse.^[4]

On May 1, 2008 I-75 Northbound traffic was re-routed back along its original path in downtown Knoxville along Interstate 275 as part of SmartFix 40, a major construction project that includes closing a portion of I-40. Traffic was re-routed along I-275 as the ramp from I-640 Eastbound/I-75 Northbound to I-75 Northbound is only one lane which causes traffic delays at peak times.

In March 2012, the southbound lanes of the interstate were again closed to traffic between mile markers 141 and 143 in Campbell County, Tennessee due to a slide beneath the roadway.^[5] This was later followed by a second slide in early May 2012^[6] that caused a portion of the roadway to collapse and forced the detour lanes to be closed.

In February 2016, a rock slide closed I-75 near Caryville, Tennessee.

Exit list

County	Location	mi	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Hamilton	East Ridge	0.00	0.00		I‑75 south – Atlanta	Georgia state line
		0.52	0.84	1	US 41 (US-76, SR-8) – East Ridge	Signed as exits 1A (south) and 1B (north) northbound
	Chattanooga	1.3	2.1	2	I-24 west to I-59 south – Chattanooga, Nashville, Birmingham	South end of US-74 overlap, left exit northbound; I-24 exits 185A-B
		3.4	5.5	3	SR 320 (East Brainerd Road)	Signed as exits 3A (east) and 3B (west) northbound
		4	6.4	4	SR 153 north – Chattanooga Airport, Chickamauga Dam
		4.2	6.8	4A	Hamilton Place Boulevard	Northbound exit and southbound entrance; access to Hamilton Place Mall
		5.5	8.9	5	Shallowford Road
					Standifer Gap Road	Removed c. 1970
		7.7	12.4	7	US 11 south / US 64 west (Old Lee Highway, SR-2 west) / SR 317 west (Bonny Oaks Drive) – Summit, Collegedale	South end of US-11/US-64/SR-2 overlap; signed as exits 7A (SR-317 east) and 7B (SR-317 west) northbound
		9.1	14.6	9	SR 317 (Apison Pike) – Ooltewah, Collegedale / Volkswagen Drive	Serves Volkswagen Chattanooga Assembly Plant
		11.7	18.8	11	US 11 north / US 64 east (SR-2 east) – Ooltewah, Collegedale	North end of US-11/US-64/SR-2 overlap
Bradley	Cleveland	20.4	32.8	20	US 64 Byp. east (US-74 east, SR-311) – Cleveland	North end of US-74 overlap
		25	40	25	SR 60 – Dayton, Cleveland, Lee University
		26.7	43.0	27	Sgt. Paul B. Huff Parkway - Cleveland
	​	32.8	52.8	33	SR 308 – Charleston
McMinn	​	35.8	57.6	36	SR 163 – Calhoun
	​	42.1	67.8	42	SR 39 (Riceville Road) – Riceville
	Athens	48.7	78.4	49	SR 30 – Decatur, Athens
	​	52.1	83.8	52	SR 305 (Mount Verd Road) – Athens
	​	56	90	56	SR 309 – Niota
Monroe	Sweetwater	60.6	97.5	60	SR 68 – Spring City, Sweetwater
		62.7	100.9	62	SR 322 (Oakland Road) – Sweetwater
Loudon	​	68.7	110.6	68	SR 323 – Philadelphia
	Loudon	72.1	116.0	72	SR 72 – Loudon
	​	76.7	123.4	76	SR 324 (Sugar Limb Road)
	Lenoir City	81.4	131.0	81	US 321 (SR-73) to SR 95 – Oak Ridge, Lenoir City, Maryville
	​	84.3	135.7	84B	I-40 west – Nashville	South end of I-40 overlap; no exit number southbound; concurrency uses I-40 exit numbers; I-40 west exit 368
Knox	Farragut			369	Watt Road
				373	Campbell Station Road – Farragut
	Knoxville			374	SR 131 (Lovell Road)
				376	I-140 east / SR 162 north – Oak Ridge, Maryville	Signed as exits 376A (north) and 376B (east) on collector/distributor lanes; I-140 west exits 1C-D
				378	Cedar Bluff Road	Signed as exits 378A (south) and 378B (north) southbound; southbound exit 378B also serves Executive Park Drive
				379	Bridgewater Road, Walker Springs Road, Gallaher View Road	Signed as exits 379 (Bridgewater Road, Walker Springs Road) and 379A (Gallaher View Road) southbound
				380	US 11 / US 70 (Kingston Pike, SR-1) – West Hills, West Town Mall	Also access to Montvue Road
				383	SR 332 (Northshore Drive, Papermill Road) / Weisgarber Road	Complete access to Northshore Drive and Papermill Road; southbound exit and entrance only for Weisgarber Road; Northshore Drive signed northbound only
				385	I-40 east / I-640 west – Knoxville	North end of I-40 overlap; south end of I-640 overlap; concurrency uses I-640 exit numbers
				1	SR 62 (Western Avenue)	Northbound split into separate unnumbered exits for eastbound and westbound exits on collector/distributor lanes
				3B	US 25W north (SR-9 north) / Gap Road – Clinton	Northbound exit only
				3	I-640 east (US-25W south, SR-9 south) – Asheville	North end of I-640 overlap; no exit number northbound; no exits from I-75 to US-25W northbound
				3	I-275 south – Knoxville	No exit number southbound
				108	Merchants Drive	Southbound access to northbound US-25W
				110	Callahan Drive
				112	SR 131 (Emory Road) – Powell
	​			117	SR 170 (Raccoon Valley Road)
Anderson	​			122	SR 61 – Clinton, Norris
	Rocky Top			128	US 441 (SR-71) – Rocky Top
				129	US 25W south (SR-9 south, SR-116) – Rocky Top	South end of US-25W/SR-9 overlap
Campbell	Caryville			134	US 25W north / SR 63 east (SR-9 north) – Caryville, Jacksboro, LaFollette	North end of US-25W/SR-9 overlap; South end of SR-63 overlap
				141	SR 63 west – Huntsville, Oneida	North end of SR-63 overlap
	​			144	Stinking Creek Road
	​			156	Rarity Mountain Road
	Jellico			160	US 25W (SR-9) – Jellico
		161.86	260.49		I-75 north – Lexington	Kentucky state line
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus             Incomplete access

See also

• Tennessee portal
• U.S. Roads portal

References

Route map: Bing / Google

1. "FHWA Route Log". Retrieved 4 October 2014.
2. Interstate 50th Anniversary (TDOT)
3. National Transportation Safety Board (1992-09-28). "Multiple-vehicle collisions and fire during limited visibility (fog) on Interstate 75 near Calhoun, Tennessee December 11, 1990". Retrieved 2011-12-22.
4. TDOT news release
5. Governor Bill Haslam (2012-03-09). "Slide Forces TDOT to Close I-75 South in Campbell County | TN.gov Newsroom". News.tn.gov. Retrieved 2013-01-29.
6. "Campbell County fretful after latest I-75 slide » Knoxville News Sentinel". Knoxnews.com. Retrieved 2013-01-29.