U.S. Route 80 (US 80) is a

U.S. Highway The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. As the designation and numbering of these h ...

in the U.S. state of Georgia. It travels west-to-east from the

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

state line in

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

across the central portion of the state through cities such as Macon,

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

Statesboro Statesboro is the largest city and county seat of Bulloch County, Georgia, United States, located in the southeastern part of the state. Statesboro is home to the flagship campus of Georgia Southern University and is part of the Savannah–Hines ...

, and

Savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the Canopy (forest), canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to rea ...

to connect to its eastern terminus at an intersection with Tybrisa Street and Inlet Avenue in Tybee Island, near the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

. Here, the roadway continues as Butler Avenue. US-80 is the main east-west non-Interstate route through Georgia. In Georgia, all U.S. Highways have at least one

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 travel concurrently along its route. The main ones that US 80 use are SR 540 from the Alabama state line to

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

and in the eastern part of the

Macon metropolitan area The Macon metropolitan area is a metropolitan area consisting of five counties in Central Georgia (Bibb, Crawford, Jones, Monroe, and Twiggs) anchored by the principal city of Macon. The Office of Management and Budget defines the area as one of ...

; SR 22 from the Alabama state line to Macon; SR 19 from Macon to a point southeast of Montrose; and SR 26 from that point to Tybee Island. From Macon to its Savannah, US 80 roughly parallels

I-16 I16 may refer to: * Interstate 16, an interstate highway in the U.S. state of Georgia * Polikarpov I-16, a Soviet fighter aircraft introduced in the 1930s * Halland Regiment * , a Japanese Type C submarine * i16, a name for the 16-bit signed integ ...

, taking a more circuitous route to pass through the center several small towns that I-16 bypasses.

Route description

The highway crosses the

Chattahoochee River The Chattahoochee River forms the southern half of the Alabama and Georgia border, as well as a portion of the Florida - Georgia border. It is a tributary of the Apalachicola River, a relatively short river formed by the confluence of the Chatta ...

from

into

where it proceeds along J. R. Allen Parkway through the northern section of the city as a limited-access freeway. Past Columbus, the road meanders through rural Georgia for roughly en route to Macon where it becomes the Eisenhower Parkway, so named in 1969 after the death of

Dwight Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

, and crosses Interstate 475 (I-475) and then I-75 before traveling through downtown Macon and merging with US 129/ US 41 Bus. in a

concurrency 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 ...

. The concurrency with US 41 Bus. ends at Walnut Street, and the one with US 129 ends at Riverside Drive. After crossing the Otis Redding Memorial Bridge over the

Ocmulgee River The Ocmulgee River () is a western tributary of the Altamaha River, approximately 255 mi (410 km) long, in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the westernmost major tributary of the Altamaha.I-16 I16 may refer to: * Interstate 16, an interstate highway in the U.S. state of Georgia * Polikarpov I-16, a Soviet fighter aircraft introduced in the 1930s * Halland Regiment * , a Japanese Type C submarine * i16, a name for the 16-bit signed integ ...

. The highway joins southbound US 23/ US 129 Alt. and parallels the northern boundary of

Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park (formerly Ocmulgee National Monument) in Macon, Georgia, United States preserves traces of over ten millennia of culture from the Native Americans in the Southeastern Woodlands. Its chief remains are majo ...

just east of the city. Beyond Macon, the highway turns southeastward, traveling through the cities of

, where it encircles the

Laurens County Courthouse Laurens County Courthouse is a historic courthouse located at Laurens, South Carolina, Laurens, Laurens County, South Carolina. History It was constructed in 1837–1838, and is a granite ashlar and brick Greek Revival architecture, Greek Revival ...

. Before the highway leaves Dublin, it is joined by US 319/ SR 31, where all four highways cross the

Herschel Lovett Bridge The Oconee River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map Accessed April 21, 2011 river in the U.S. state of Georgia. Its origin is in Hall County and it terminates where it joins ...

over the Oconee River, entering East Dublin, where US 319/SR 31 leaves to the northeast. Later it enters

Swainsboro Swainsboro is a city in Emanuel County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 7,425. The city is the county seat of Emanuel County. Geography Swainsboro is located near the center of Emanuel County at 32� ...

, where it is concurrent with SR 56, and

where it is concurrent with US 25, and traveling roughly parallel to I-16. On the outskirts of

, the highway crosses I-95 and follows Louisville Road into the city's downtown area. After briefly merging with

I-516 Interstate 516 (I-516, also known as the W.F. Lynes Parkway) is a auxiliary Interstate Highway mostly in the coastal city of Savannah, located in the east-central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the only auxiliary route of I- ...

, US 80 continues eastward along Victory Drive, just south of Savannah's

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...

. At the community of Thunderbolt, where Victory Drive ends, US 80 crosses the

Wilmington River Wilmington may refer to: Places Australia *Wilmington, South Australia, a town and locality **District Council of Wilmington, a former local government area **Wilmington railway line, a former railway line United Kingdom * Wilmington, Devon *W ...

and proceeds across the islands and marshes along the Atlantic Coast east of Savannah. There it crosses Lazaretto Creek onto Tybee Island. The final stretch of US 80 follows Butler Avenue across Tybee Island. The highway terminates at 19th Street, a few hundred feet from the ocean. A small monument at the intersection of Butler and Tybrisa Street marks the end of the highway. The following portions of US 80 in Georgia are part of the National Highway System, a system of routes determined to be the most important for the nation's economy, mobility, and defense: *From the Alabama state line to the SR 96 intersection in Geneva *From the I-475 interchange to the southern end of the US 129 concurrency in Macon *From the northern end of the US 129 concurrency in Macon to the SR 57 intersection in East Macon *The portion between US 441 Byp./SR 117 and US 441/SR 29 in Dublin *From the western end of the US 25/SR 67 concurrency in Hopeulikit to the US 301 Byp./SR 73 Byp. intersection in Statesboro *From the I-95 interchange in Pooler to an indeterminate point in Tybee Island.

History

In 2017, it was planned to extended Jimmy DeLoach Parkway from its current southern terminus at US 80/SR 17/SR 26, partially along the path of Bloomingdale Road (from SR 17's current southern terminus at I-16 to just south of its intersection with the northern terminus of Pine Barren Road). Construction on the extension began in 2018.

Future

Part of US 80 from the Alabama state line to Geneva, Georgia is part of the Fall Line Freeway, a highway that connects

and Augusta. This portion may eventually be incorporated into the proposed eastern extension of Interstate 14 (I-14), which is currently entirely within

Central Texas Central Texas is a region in the U.S. state of Texas surrounding Austin and roughly bordered by San Saba to Bryan and San Marcos to Hillsboro. Central Texas overlaps with and includes part of the Texas Hill Country and corresponds to a ph ...

and may be extended into Augusta. The at-grade intersection at Jimmy DeLoach Parkway's current southern terminus is to be converted into a full

diamond interchange A diamond interchange is a common type of road junction, used where a controlled-access highway crosses a minor road. Design The freeway itself is grade-separated from the minor road, one crossing the other over a bridge. Approaching the ...

. The extension of the parkway is planned to be designated as SR 1251 until it is opened. The former alignment of SR 17 is planned to be redesignated as SR 17 Conn. Also, the eastern end of Osteen Road, which lies on the

right-of-way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...

of the extension, is to be shifted to the west.

Major intersections

References