State Route 88 (SR 88) is a state highway that travels southwest-to-northeast through portions of

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, Jefferson,

Burke Burke is an Anglo-Norman Irish surname, deriving from the ancient Anglo-Norman and Hiberno-Norman noble dynasty, the House of Burgh. In Ireland, the descendants of William de Burgh (–1206) had the surname ''de Burgh'' which was gaelicised ...

, and Richmond counties in the east-central part of the U.S. state of

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 connects the Sandersville area with Hephzibah, via

Wrens Wrens are a family of brown passerine birds in the predominantly New World family Troglodytidae. The family includes 88 species divided into 19 genera. Only the Eurasian wren occurs in the Old World, where, in Anglophone regions, it is comm ...

, with a brief portion in Augusta. From its western terminus east of Sandersville to Wrens, SR 88 is part of the

Fall Line Freeway The Fall Line Freeway (FLF; also signed as State Route 540 (SR 540)) is a highway designed to span the width of the U.S. state of Georgia from Columbus at the Alabama state line to Augusta, travelling through several cities includi ...

, a highway that connects Columbus and Augusta, partially as a

truck route A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame constructi ...

, and is signed as SR 540. It may also be incorporated into the proposed eastern extension of Interstate 14 (I-14), an Interstate Highway that is currently entirely within Central Texas and may be extended to Augusta.

Route description

SR 88 begins at an intersection with SR 24/ SR 540 (SR 24 is known as Ridge Road south of this intersection; SR 24 and SR 540 is part of the

west of here), just east of Sandersville, in the central part of Washington County. At this intersection, it begins a concurrency with SR 540 (and the Fall Line Freeway). The two highways head northeast to an intersection with the northern terminus of SR 231 and the southern terminus of Tree Nursery Road, north-northwest of Davisboro. This is just before the highways cross over the

Ogeechee River The Ogeechee River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 26, 2011 blackwater river in the U.S. state of Georgia. It heads at the confluence of its North and Sout ...

on the Fenns Bridge into Jefferson County. Not too far into the county is an intersection with SR 171 (Grange Road). South of Stapleton is SR 296. SR 88 and SR 540 continue to the northwest, until they meet US 1/ US 221/ SR 4/ SR 17 (

Jefferson Davis Memorial Highway The Jefferson Davis Highway, also known as the Jefferson Davis Memorial Highway, was a planned transcontinental highway in the United States in the 1910s and 1920s that began in Arlington, Virginia, and extended south and west to San Diego, Cal ...

) in the extreme southwestern part of

. The six highways travel concurrently to the north-northeast into the main part of the city. At an intersection with the western terminus of Howard Street and the southern terminus of Thomson Highway, SR 17 departs to the north-northwest onto Thomson Highway. A few blocks later, they intersect SR 80. At this intersection, SR 80/SR 88 head to the east. At Waynesboro Road, SR 80 departs to the south-southeast, while SR 88 continues its east-northeastern routing. Then, it gradually curves to a near-due-eastern direction, before heading southeast at Matthews. After that, it heads east-northeast, and then northeast, until it enters Burke County, just before it meets SR 305. Here, it heads north-northeast, and straddles the county line for a short distance, into Keysville. The highway briefly heads north-northwest before it turns to the northeast and enters

Richmond County Richmond County may refer to places: Australia *Richmond County, New South Wales, a cadastral division Canada *Richmond County, Nova Scotia United Kingdom *Richmondshire, the original Richmond County in Yorkshire, England United States ...

and the city limits of Augusta. After a brief portion in the city, it enters the city of Blythe. Here, the path of SR 88 and that of US 1/SR 4/SR 540 come very close together, forming the shape of the letter " K", but with a very short horizontal line connecting its upright parts. The two highway paths do not actually intersect, as there is a very brief connecting road between them. SR 88 curves to the east-northeast and re-enters Augusta. It curves to the east-southeast and enters Hephzibah. On the northeastern edge of the city, on the Hephzibah–Augusta line, it meets its eastern terminus, an intersection with US 25/ SR 121 (Peach Orchard Road). The only portion of SR 88 that is part of the National Highway System, a system of routes determined to be the most important for the nation's economy, mobility, and defense, is the entire SR 540 concurrency, from east of Sandersville to Wrens.

History

Reassurance shields for SR 88 were removed on the Fall Line Freeway in June 2020.

Future

The route of SR 88 is being absorbed into the Fall Line Freeway, which is planned to extend from the

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...

state line in Columbus to an interchange with I-20 and

I-520 Interstate 520 (I-520) is a auxiliary Interstate Highway that encircles most of Augusta, Georgia, and North Augusta, South Carolina, as a three-quarter beltway around the western, southern, and eastern parts of the main part of the Augus ...

in Augusta. It could also become part of the future I-14.

Major intersections

References

External links