State Route 43 (SR 43) is a south to north highway 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 is 56.79 miles (91.39 km) long. It begins in Madison County and ends in Obion County.Tennessee Department of Transportation (24 January 2003). "State Highway and Interstate List 2003" State Route 43 is little-known by the general public by this designation as it is overlain by U.S. Route 45E for most of its length; the "43" designation is seen largely on mileposts. Two short sections of this route at

Martin Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austral ...

and South Fulton is fully signed. SR 43 from its southern terminus to Milan is designated as a Strategic Highway Network connector route servicing the Milan Arsenal.FHWA National Highway System, State of Tennessee

Route description

Most of SR 43 is a four-lane

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 ...

, which either overlies or bypasses its original route.

Madison County

SR 43 begins in Madison County in Three Way at an interchange with

US 45 U.S. Route 45 (US 45) is a major north-south United States highway and a border-to-border route, from Lake Superior to the Gulf of Mexico. A sign at the highway's northern terminus notes the total distance as . US 45 is notable for incorporatin ...

/ US 45W/ SR 5. It goes northeast as a divided four-lane highway, overlain by US 45E, and SR 186 for a short distance, before leaving Three Way and crossing into Gibson County.

Gibson County

US 45E/SR 43 immediately enter

Medina Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the Holiest sites in Islam, second-holiest city in Islam, ...

, where they bypass downtown on the western side and have an intersection with SR 152. They then leave Medina and continue north to enter

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

and have an intersection with SR 187 before becoming an undivided four-lane as it passes through residential areas. US 45E/SR 43 then enters downtown and becomes concurrent with SR 104. They then have an intersection with US 70A/

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/ SR 77, where SR 77 joins the concurrency, before continuing north through downtown to an intersection with Front Street, where SR 77 and SR 104 split off to the west. US 45E/SR 43 continue north through residential areas to have an intersection with SR 425 before leaving Milan and continuing north through rural areas, where it becomes a divided highway again. US 45E/SR 43 cross a bridge over the Rutherford Fork of the

Obion River The Obion River system is the primary surface water Surface water is water located on top of land forming terrestrial (inland) waterbodies, and may also be referred to as ''blue water'', opposed to the seawater and waterbodies like the ocean ...

before passing through Idlewild and

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

, where it bypasses downtown to the west, becomes concurrent with SR 54, and has an intersection with SR 105. The highway then crosses the South Fork of the

to enter Weakley County.

Weakley County

US 45E/SR 43/SR 54 then becomes an undivided highway again and enters Greenfield, where it goes straight through downtown, having an intersection with SR 124 and SR 54 splitting off and going east along Broad Street. US 45E/SR 43 the leave town and have an intersection with SR 445 before leaving Greenfield. The highway continues north through rural areas, becoming a divided highway again, before passing through

Sharon Sharon ( he, שָׁרוֹן ''Šārôn'' "plain") is a given name as well as an Israeli surname. In English-speaking areas, Sharon is now predominantly a feminine given name. However, historically it was also used as a masculine given name. In I ...

, which it bypasses completely along its west side and has an interchange with SR 89. US 45E/SR 43 then enter

and come to an interchange with SR 216. Here, US 45E Bus/ SR 372 begins and takes over the original route of US 45E/SR 43 through the city, US 45E turns east to become concurrent with SR 216, and SR 43 becomes signed as a primary highway and turns west along SR 216 and Skyhawk Parkway. SR 43/SR 216 go northwest as a 2-lane highway before SR 216 breaks off along Baker Road and continues west. SR 43 continues north to bypass the city along its west side to have an intersection with SR 431 after passing through a business district. SR 43 then has an interchange with SR 22 before passing through a rural part of the city and coming to an intersection with US 45E/SR 372, where SR 372 ends and SR 43 rejoins US 45E. US 45E/SR 43 then cross a bridge over the

to enter Obion County.

Obion County

US 45E/SR 43 continue north through rural areas as a divided highway, where they have an intersection with SR 190, before entering South Fulton and coming to an intersection with unsigned SR 215, where US 45E turns west along SR 215 while SR 43 breaks off again, this time as a signed secondary highway, to pass through town as a 2-lane highway to come to the

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 ...

state line, where SR 43 ends at an intersection with KY 129 and KY 307 in downtown.

Signed Segments

At Martin, SR 43 breaks free from US 45E as a signed primary highway and bypasses Martin to the west. This road is the original US 45E around Martin. It is not limited access, and because of its location, it could not easily be converted into a four-lane limited access highway in the 1990s. As a result, a new divided, limited-access four-lane US 45E was constructed around the east side of Martin where more land was available, and the original SR 43 designation was revealed on signposts. North of Martin, SR 43 rejoins US 45E and continues as an undivided four-lane highway to South Fulton, where it breaks free again as a signed secondary highway and follows the original US 45E Business Route through town to the

state line while US 45E bypasses to the west.

Counties traversed (south to north)

State Route 43 traverses the counties shown in the table below.

Major intersections

External links

Tennessee Department of TransportationFederal Highway Administration HEPGIS NHS Viewer

References

{{reflist 043 Transportation in Madison County, Tennessee Transportation in Gibson County, Tennessee Transportation in Weakley County, Tennessee Transportation in Obion County, Tennessee