State Route 138 (SR 138) is a

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

in the northwestern part of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. The highway is a west-to-east route that travels within portions of

Fulton Fulton may refer to: People * Robert Fulton (1765–1815), American engineer and inventor who developed the first commercially successful steam-powered ship * Fulton (surname) Given name * Fulton Allem (born 1957), South African golfer * Fult ...

, Fayette, Clayton,

Henry Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) *Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

, Rockdale,

Newton Newton most commonly refers to: * Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist * Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton Newton may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Newton'' (film), a 2017 Indian film * Newton ( ...

, and

Walton Walton may refer to: People * Walton (given name) * Walton (surname) * Susana, Lady Walton (1926–2010), Argentine writer Places Canada * Walton, Nova Scotia, a community ** Walton River (Nova Scotia) *Walton, Ontario, a hamlet United Kingdo ...

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

that connects Fairburn and Monroe.

Route description

SR 138 begins at an

intersection In mathematics, the intersection of two or more objects is another object consisting of everything that is contained in all of the objects simultaneously. For example, in Euclidean geometry, when two lines in a plane are not parallel, their i ...

with SR 92 (West Campbellton Street) in Fairburn, within Fulton County. In town, it heads southeast to

US 29 U.S. Route 29 (US 29) is a north–south United States highway that runs for from Pensacola, Florida to the western suburbs of Baltimore, Maryland in the Southern United States, connecting the Florida Panhandle to the Baltimore-Washington ...

/ SR 14 (Roosevelt Highway). It continues southeasterly to an interchange with

Interstate 85 Interstate 85 (I-85) is a major Interstate Highway in the Southeastern United States. Its southern terminus is at an interchange with I-65 in Montgomery, Alabama; its northern terminus is an interchange with I-95 in Petersburg, Virginia, n ...

(I-85; James D. "Jim" McGee Memorial Highway) in Union City. Farther to the southeast is SR 279 (Old National Highway), just prior to reaching the

tripoint A tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints as of 2020. Nearly half are situated in rivers, l ...

that is the meeting point of Fulton, Fayette, and Clayton counties. It runs along the Fayette–Clayton county line for a short while. During that stretch, it intersects SR 314 (West Fayetteville Road). After entering Clayton County proper, it meets SR 85 in Riverdale. Northwest of Jonesboro is an intersection with SR 138 Spur (North Avenue), which is part of the former route of the SR 138 mainline through town. SR 138 now passes north of most of the town. Just to the northwest of SR 138 Spur is US 19/ US 41/ SR 3/ SR 54 (Tara Boulevard). At this intersection, SR 54 runs

concurrent Concurrent means happening at the same time. Concurrency, concurrent, or concurrence may refer to: Law * Concurrence, in jurisprudence, the need to prove both ''actus reus'' and ''mens rea'' * Concurring opinion (also called a "concurrence"), a ...

to the east for about . On the northeastern edge of town, SR 54 splits off to the northeast on Jonesboro Road, and SR 138 curves to the southeast to meet is second intersection with SR 138 Spur (Stockbridge Road/Lake Spivey Parkway). Just before crossing into Henry County, SR 138 enters Stockbridge. In town, it has an interchange with

I-75 Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes and Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end in 5, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, traveling from St ...

. The road re-enters Clayton County and slips out of the city limits for about . It has an interchange with I-675 (

Terrell Starr Terrell Starr (June 5, 1925 – April 19, 2009) was a Democratic member of the Georgia State Senate from 1968 to 2007. Born in Clayton County, Georgia, Starr was elected to the Georgia State Senate in 1968. He lived in Jonesboro, Georgia Jones ...

Parkway), during that stretch. After re-entering both Henry County and Stockbridge's city limits, the road meets US 23/ SR 42 (North Henry Boulevard). The three routes head concurrent to the east, until just outside the city. After the concurrency ends, SR 138 heads northeast to an intersection with SR 155 (Snapfinger Road), just before entering Rockdale County. The road crosses over the South River and intersects SR 212 (Scott Highway). In

Conyers Conyers is an Atlanta suburb, the county seat of and only city in Rockdale County, Georgia, Rockdale County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. The city is 24 miles (38.6 km) east of Atlanta, downtown Atlanta and is a part of t ...

, SR 138 meets SR 20 (McDonough Highway). The two routes run concurrently to the north and northeast through town, with an interchange with

I-20 Interstate 20 (I‑20) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the Southern United States. I-20 runs beginning at an interchange with I-10 in Scroggins Draw, Texas, and ending at an interchange with I-95 in Florence, South Carolina. Between ...

/ US 278/ SR 12 (Purple Heart Highway), until SR 20 heads northwest on Sigman Road NE and SR 138 continues to the northeast in the northeastern part of town. The highway crosses over the

Yellow River The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: , Standard Beijing Mandarin, Mandarin: ''Huáng hé'' ) is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system in the world at th ...

and cuts across the northernmost corner of Newton County, before entering Walton County. Shortly after the county line is Walnut Grove, where SR 81 (Leone Avenue) runs through. SR 138 continues to the northeast and enters Monroe. In town, is an intersection with SR 10 Business (West Spring Street). It then meets at an interchange with US 78/ SR 10. It then finally meets its eastern terminus a fifth of a mile north of the previous interchange. The roadway continues northeast for a mile as Charlotte Rowell Boulevard to

Georgia State Route 11 State Route 11 (SR 11) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Georgia, traveling through portions of Echols, Lanier, Berrien, Irwin, Ben Hill, Wilcox, Pulaski, Houston, Peach, Bibb, Jones, Jasper, Newton, Walton, Barrow, Jackson, ...

in Monroe. All of SR 138 from I-85 to I-20 is part of the National Highway System, a system of roadways important to the nation's economy, defense, and mobility.

History

An old portion of SR 138 with a steel truss bridge crossing the Alcovy River in Walton County still exists on privately owned property. HWY 138 Truss 2

Major intersections

Bannered route

State Route 138 Spur (SR 138 Spur) is a very short

spur route A spur route is a short road forming a branch from a longer, more important road such as a freeway, Interstate Highway, or motorway. A bypass or beltway should not be considered a true spur route as it typically reconnects with another or the s ...

, about in length, in Jonesboro that connects the SR 138 mainline with US 19/ US 41/ SR 3/ SR 54 (Tara Boulevard). Until the early 1990s, it was part of SR 138 proper, which ran through downtown Jonesboro at the time. Around that time, a new bypass was built around the north side of the city. It initially received the designation SR 138 Spur; however, once the bypass was completed, the SR 138 and SR 138 Spur designations were swapped and the new SR 138 Spur truncated to Tara Boulevard on the west side of Jonesboro. Some street signs on the northern bypass, now the SR 138 mainline, still incorrectly refer to the road as "Spur 138".

References

External links