Georgia State Route 72
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State Route 72 (SR 72) 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 ...
that runs west-to-east through portions of
Clarke Clarke is a surname which means "clerk". The surname is of English and Irish origin and comes from the Latin . Variants include Clerk and Clark. Clarke is also uncommonly chosen as a given name. Irish surname origin Clarke is a popular surname i ...
,
Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...
, and Elbert
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 ...
in the northeastern 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 ...
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 ...
. This route is part of a multi two-state route 72 that begins at
Athens, Georgia Athens, officially Athens–Clarke County, is a consolidated city-county and college town in the U.S. state of Georgia. Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta, and is a satellite city of the capital. The University of Georgia, the sta ...
and ends at
Rock Hill, South Carolina Rock Hill is the largest city in York County, South Carolina and the fifth-largest city in the state. It is also the fourth-largest city of the Charlotte metropolitan area, behind Charlotte, Concord, and Gastonia (all located in North Carolina, ...
. The route connects the Athens area with the
South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...
state line, southwest of Calhoun Falls, South Carolina, via Comer and Elberton.


Route description

SR 72 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
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 8 (Old Monroe Road) in the northeastern part of
Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
, on the northern edge of
Athens Technical College Athens Technical College ("Athens Tech") is a unit of the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) in Athens, Georgia. It was founded in 1958 as Athens Area Vocational-Technical School. The school was renamed Athens Area Technical Institute in ...
, in Clarke County. It travels to the northeast, crossing into Madison County and passes through the towns of Hull and Colbert, and meets the western terminus of SR 172, just northeast of Colbert. Just before entering and bypassing Comer, the route crosses over the South Fork Broad River. While bypassing the town, it intersects the eastern terminus of SR 22 and the southern terminus of SR 98. SR 72 departs Comer, passing northeast of
Watson Mill Bridge State Park Watson Mill Bridge State Park is a Georgia state park located near Comer and Carlton on the South Fork of the Broad River. The park is named for the Watson Mill Bridge the longest original-site covered bridge in Georgia, which spans across t ...
, before bypassing
Carlton Carlton may refer to: People * Carlton (name), a list of those with the given name or surname * Carlton (singer), English soul singer Carlton McCarthy * Carlton, a pen name used by Joseph Caldwell (1773–1835), American educator, Presbyterian ...
. It heads northeast, crossing over the Broad River into Elbert County. It continues northeast toward Elberton. Just before entering town, it begins a concurrency with SR 17 (Bowman Highway). In town, it intersects SR 77 (Oliver Street). On the southeastern edge of town, SR 17 splits off to the southeast onto Elbert Street, while SR 72 heads east-southeast. It passes through
rural area In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are descri ...
s of the county, and intersects the northern terminus of SR 79 (Lincolnton Highway) right before crossing the
South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...
border. At the South Carolina line, it crosses over
Richard B. Russell Lake Richard B. Russell Lake (known to locals as simply "Lake Russell") is a reservoir created by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers by construction of Richard B. Russell Dam on the Savannah River bordering Elbert County, Georgia and Abbeville County, ...
. There, the roadway continues to the northwest, toward
Calhoun Falls Calhoun Falls is a town in Abbeville County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 1,724 at the 2020 census, down from 2,004 at the 2010 census. The town derives its name from John E. Colhoun (or Calhoun), a United States Senator fro ...
, as
South Carolina Highway 72 South Carolina Highway 72 (SC 72) is a state highway, traversing interior portions of the South Carolina Piedmont region. This route is part of a multi two-state route 72 that begins at Athens, Georgia and ends at Rock Hill, South Car ...
. The entire length of SR 72 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.


Future

GDOT proposed to widen SR 72 into a four-lane road with a green grass
median In statistics and probability theory, the median is the value separating the higher half from the lower half of a data sample, a population, or a probability distribution. For a data set, it may be thought of as "the middle" value. The basic fe ...
from 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 ...
of SR 17 in Elberton to the
South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...
state line. The project was made to make the multi-state route 72 into a four-lane highway with some stretch miles of being a
divided highway A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...
from its western terminus at
Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
to an interchange of
Interstate 26 Interstate 26 (I-26) is a main route of the Interstate Highway System in the Southeastern United States. Nominally east–west, as indicated by its even number, I-26 runs from the junction of U.S. Route 11W (US 11W) and US 23 in ...
(I-26) at
Clinton, South Carolina Clinton is a city in Laurens County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 8,490 as of the 2010 census. It is part of the Greenville– Mauldin– Easley Metropolitan Statistical Area. Clinton is the home of Presbyterian Col ...
.


Major intersections


See also

* *


References


External links

{{Attached KML, display=inline,title
Georgia Roads (Routes 61 - 80)
072 Transportation in Athens, Georgia Transportation in Clarke County, Georgia Transportation in Madison County, Georgia Transportation in Elbert County, Georgia