U.S. Route 19
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U.S. Highway 19 is a north-south United States highway. Despite encroaching Interstate highways, the route has remained a long-haul route, connecting Lake Erie with the Gulf of Mexico.
Termini
As of 2004, the highway's northern terminus is in Erie, Pennsylvania at an intersection with U.S. Highway 20 about a mile from the shores of Lake Erie. Its southern terminus is in Memphis, Florida, south of Tampa at an intersection with U.S. Highway 41.[Endpoints of US highways]Corridor L
Originally this Corridor was built as a 4-lane freeway for only the southern half of this run, the section south of United States Highway 60, however the large amount of traffic (the highway is part of the direct route from the cities of Toronto, Ontario, Buffalo, New York, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Florida,) forced the state to rethink this plan and upgrade the northern half to 4-lanes as well.
The tiny town of Summersville has been identified as a speedtrap by the National Motorists Association.
Alternate routes
As of 2004, US 19 splits into US 19E and US 19W in Bluff City, Tennessee. The routes rejoin in rural Yancey County, North Carolina. While US 19W heads directly for Interstate 26 in Johnson City, Tennessee, US 19E takes a 70-mile (113 km) path through the Great Smoky Mountains. US 19W doesn't completely avoid the mountains, however. It breaks off of I-26 shortly before the Tennessee-North Carolina border, and takes a tortuous path through the mountains of Yancey County, North Carolina.An "Alt 19" exists in Florida, beginning at the intersection of US 19 in Holiday, Pasco County, Florida, it runs for 34.6 miles west of US 19 near the Gulf coast ending at the intersection of US 19 and 9th Avenue North in St. Petersburg, Florida. It used to continue east of this along 9th Avenue North, to the intersection with US 92. The planned St. Petersburg-Clearwater Expressway, or Pinellas Beltway, would have followed the current alignment of "Alt 19" from I-275 to Clearwater, Florida. The intersection of Seminole Boulevard and Bay Pines Boulevard is a remenant of this proposed road. The beltway road was proposed in 1974, but dead by 1980.[Pinellas Beltway/St. Petersburg Clearwater Expressway reference]
States traversed
The highway passes through the following states:Closely paralleled by Interstate 79 for its entire length.
New River Gorge Bridge
Closely paralleled by Interstate 79, Interstate 64, and Interstate 77, except for a segment east of Charleston.
Additional information:
- Crosses New River Gorge Bridge north of Fayetteville.
- Prior to US Highway Numbering System this was West Virginia Route 4
- Becomes extremely congested in and around Beckley.
Paralleled by Interstate 81, 10-20 miles (16-32 km) distant across a mountain ridge.
US 19 breaks away from the interstate, but alternate route US 19W is co-signed with Interstate 26 for much of its Tennessee length. US 19E in Tennessee is the same highway as Tennessee State Route 37.
The split routes join together and are co-signed or closely parallel Interstate 26 and Interstate 40 until I-40 veers north, leaving US 26 to head into the Great Smoky Mountains.
US 19 pursues an independent path in Georgia, with Interstate 75 as much as 50 miles (80 km) away.
Additional information:
- It is the same road as U.S. 41 in downtown Atlanta
- Between downtown Atlanta and I-285, it is the same road as Georgia State Route 9 (Roswell Road)
- Between Interstate 285 and Dahlonega, Georgia, it is the same road as Georgia State Route 400.
- North of Dahlonega, it goes into the state of North Carolina.
US 19 remains independent of I-75, even as the routes converge on Tampa and St. Petersburg, Florida. The route is co-signed with US 27 between Capps and Perry, Alternate U.S. 27 between Perry and Chiefland, US 98 between Perry and Chassahowitzka, and Interstate 275 over the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, a cable-stayed bridge over the mouth of Tampa Bay.
Currently, US 19 between Clearwater and Pinellas Park is getting a freeway-style upgrade (See this link, [link]), due to the cancellation of an extension on Interstate 375 in the late 1970s.
Most dangerous road
Statistically US 19 is the most dangerous road in the United States. A Florida Highway Patrol test period beginning in 1998 and ending in 2003, as mandated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, showed the strech of US 19 from Pasco County to Pinellas County to average approximately 52 deaths a year, or 262 deaths in the 5 year duration of the study. 100 of these deaths were pedestrian related making US 19 the #1 worst road to walk on in these two counties.[MSNBC report on America's deadliest roads]Related US routes
References
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