State Route 69 (SR 69) 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 ...

West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...

and

Middle Tennessee Middle Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of the U.S. state of Tennessee that composes roughly the central portion of the state. It is delineated according to state law as 41 of the state's 95 counties. Middle Tennessee contains the s ...

that runs parallel to the

Tennessee River The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other names, ...

for the majority of its length. SR 69 carries both primary and secondary highway designations and is routed through rural areas.

Route description

Wayne, Hardin and McNairy Counties

SR 69 begins in Wayne County at 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 ...

border near

Florence, AL Florence is a city in, and the county seat of, Lauderdale County, Alabama, United States, in the state's northwestern corner. It is situated along the Tennessee River and is home to the University of North Alabama, the oldest college in the st ...

, continuing as (AL) SR 20. It runs a short distance in Wayne County, with no major intersections, and crosses into Hardin County. It then goes through Walnut Grove and begins a northwest course. It then turns north and enters Maddox and intersects SR 226. It continues north through Walkertown and enters

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 ...

. In Savannah, it has a junction with SR 203. A short distance later, it intersects and becomes concurrent with SR 128/

US 64 U.S. Route 64 (US 64) is an east–west United States highway that runs for 2,326 miles (3,743 km) from Nags Head in eastern North Carolina to just southwest of the Four Corners in northeast Arizona. The western terminus is at U.S. Route 1 ...

SR 15 Route 15, or Highway 15, can refer to: For roads named A15, see A15 roads. International * Asian Highway 15 * European route E15 * European route E015 Australia New South Wales * Hunter Expressway * New England Highway and other local Ne ...

. After a couple of blocks, SR 128 separates and turns south. SR 69/US 64/SR 15 continue west, cross the

, and exits Savannah. It continues to Crump, where SR 22 joins the concurrency. Shortly afterwards, SR 69 separates and turns north alone, and goes through

Morris Chapel Morris Chapel was dedicated in 1942 and is located on the campus of the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, United States. History In 1937, University of the Pacific's President Knoles envisioned the chapel which has become a Stoc ...

. It continues north and enters

McNairy County McNairy County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2010 census, the population was 26,075. Its county seat is Selmer. McNairy County is located along Tennessee's border with the state of Mississippi. Sheriff Buford ...

and immediately comes to another junction and concurrency with SR 22 and they enter Milledegeville. In Milledgeville, it has a junction with SR 22A, one of only 3 alternate routes in the state. SR 69 then separates from SR 22 at the same intersection and turns east, returning to Hardin County. It enters the community of

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

and has a junction with SR 421. It continues east to intersect SR 104 before entering

Saltillo Saltillo () is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Coahuila and is also the municipal seat of the municipality of the same name. Mexico City, Monterrey, and Saltillo are all connected by a major railroad and highwa ...

. In Saltillo, SR 69 makes a sharp left turn and starts going north. Then it leaves Saltillo, starts running along the banks of the Tennessee River, and leaves Hardin County for the second and final time, crossing into

Decatur County Decatur County is the name of various past and present counties in the United States, all named for Stephen Decatur: *Decatur County, Georgia *Decatur County, Indiana *Decatur County, Iowa *Decatur County, Kansas *Decatur County, Tennessee *Decatur ...

Decatur County

It then turns east again and junctions with SR 202. It then turns north again and becomes concurrent with SR 114 in Bath Springs, and continues north. Shortly afterwards, it comes to an intersection with

US 641 U.S. Route 641 (US 641) is a U.S. Route in Tennessee and Kentucky. It runs for from US 64 south of Clifton, Tennessee to an intersection with US 60 in Marion, Kentucky. While it is considered a spur route of U.S. Route 41, t ...

, where SR 114 turns south to be its unsigned companion route while SR 69 turns north to become concurrent with it and become its unsigned companion route. They then have another junction with SR 202 and it joins the concurrency. They then enter Decaturville and intersect SR 100. A short distance away, SR 202 separates and turns west, and US 641/SR 69 continues north leaving Decaturville. The highway then crosses the

Beech River The Beech River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 8, 2011 stream draining the east-central portion of West Tennessee in the United States. The Beech rises about ...

and enters

Parsons Parsons may refer to: Places In the United States: * Parsons, Kansas, a city * Parsons, Missouri, an unincorporated community * Parsons, Tennessee, a city * Parsons, West Virginia, a town * Camp Parsons, a Boy Scout camp in the state of Washingto ...

to have an intersection with

US 412 U.S. Route 412 is an east–west United States highway, first commissioned in 1982. U.S. 412 overlaps expressway-grade Cimarron Turnpike from Tulsa west to Interstate 35 and the Cherokee Turnpike from east of Chouteau, Oklahoma, to west of the ...

/ SR 20 in the center of town. They then leave Parsons and continue north to

Holladay Holladay is a city in central Salt Lake County, Utah, United States. It is part of the Salt Lake City, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area and abuts the Wasatch National Forest. The population was 31,965 at the 2020 census, a significant increas ...

, where they have an interchange with

I-40 Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west Interstate Highway running through the south-central portion of the United States. At a length of , it is the third-longest Interstate Highway in the country, after I-90 and I-80. From west to ea ...

and cross into Benton County.

Benton County

Further north, still in Holladay, US 641/SR 69 intersect SR 192, a loop through the center of Holladay and the former routing of US 641/SR 69. Continuing north, they junction with the other end of SR 192 and leave Holladay. They then enter Camden and have a junction with

US 70 U.S. Route 70 or U.S. Highway 70 (US 70) is an east–west United States highway that runs for from eastern North Carolina to east-central Arizona. It is a major east–west highway of the Southeastern, Southern and Southwestern United States. ...

/ SR 1. They continue into Camden and intersect with US 70 Bus/ SR 391, which leads to SR 69A (Old US 641/SR 69), one of only 3 alternate routes in the state, and downtown. They then exit Camden, with SR 69A paralleling them for a short ways, before diverting onto its own path. US 641/SR 69 then cross into Henry County.

Henry County

They then have a junction with SR 218 before entering

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. Shortly afterwards, they intersect with the other end of SR 69A, and revert to their original routing. They then intersect with the northern terminus of SR 77, and continue into downtown, having a junction with

US 79 U.S. Route 79 (US 79) is a United States highway in the Southern United States. The route is officially considered and labeled as a north-south highway, but its path is actually more of a diagonal northeast-southwest highway. The highway's nort ...

/ SR 76 before having an intersection with SR 54 and SR 356. Here, US 641 continues north to Kentucky with SR 54 becoming its companion route, with SR 69 separating from US 641 and becoming signed again. It also turns west onto SR 54 for a short distance before turning north again. It has another junction with SR 218 before leaving Paris, alone. Continuing north, it then has an intersection and short concurrency with SR 140 in Cottage Grove. SR 69 then crosses into

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

south of Bell City and continues as KY 97. The vast majority of this highway is two-lane with no access control. In Hardin County, there are two separate sections of this road due to the path of the

through this area.

Points of interest

Pickwick Landing State Park Pickwick Landing State Park is a state park in Pickwick Dam, Hardin County, Tennessee, located in the southeastern United States. The park is situated around the Pickwick Lake impoundment of the Tennessee River, and is named for Pickwick Landi ...

Paris Landing State Park Paris Landing State Park is an 841-acre (3.4 km²) state park located on the western bank of Kentucky Lake in Buchanan, Henry County, Tennessee. The park is located inland from the original site of Paris Landing which served steamboat tra ...

Nathan Bedford Forrest State Park Nathan Bedford Forrest State Park is a state park in Benton County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. The park is situated on the western shore of the Kentucky Lake impoundment of the Tennessee River, just north of the community of E ...

History

SR 192 and SR 69A both represent old alignments of SR 69 in Benton County. There are also numerous other unsigned historical sections that are named 'Old Highway 69' in Benton & Decatur county. These alignments generally run nearby the present day SR 69 and most feature narrow roadway width and extensive curves. In 1977, US 641 was extended southward (from its original southern terminus at

) along the path of SR 69 to the interchange with

(Exit 126) near

with SR 69 continuing south beyond the interchange. In November 2014, AASHTO approved a southern extension of the US 641 designation along SR 69, from the former southern terminus at I-40 to the current end at

in Wayne County.

Counties traversed

SR 69/SR 69A traverses the following counties shown in the table below.

Major intersections

Alternate route

SR 69 is one of only three state highways in

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

that have a signed alternate route. SR 69A is approximately {{convert, 27.09, mi, km long with a northern terminus of Paris and a southern terminus of Camden. It serves the town of Big Sandy and provides access to rural northern Benton County and southeastern Henry County. SR 69A is a narrow and very curvy two-lane highway throughout its entire length, except for a short portion in

where SR 69A is a five-lane road with four-lanes and one center turn. SR 69A is known as 'Old Highway 69' in Benton County and a few old mileposts still exist indicating '69' on the bottom of the sign, as opposed to newer mileposts which indicate '69A'.

References

Tennessee Department of TransportationWayne County, TN Highway MapHardin County, TN Highway MapMcNairy County, TN Highway MapDecatur County, TN Highway MapBenton County, TN Highway MapHenry County, TN Highway Map
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