U.S. Route 129 (US 129) is a north–south

United States 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 hi ...

that runs for in

East Tennessee East Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee defined in state law. Geographically and socioculturally distinct, it comprises approximately the eastern third of the U.S. state of Tennessee. East Tennessee consists of 33 count ...

, from the

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

state line, near

Tapoco Alcoa Power Generating, Inc. is a subsidiary of Alcoa Inc., headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Its three divisions were independent subsidiaries before being consolidated into Alcoa Power Generating, Inc. (APGI). These three projects have p ...

, to

Knoxville Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state's ...

. In Tennessee, the highway is completely overlapped by unsigned (except for mileposts) State Route 115 (SR 115).

Route description

Blount and Monroe Counties

US 129 enters

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 ...

and Blount County through

Deals Gap Deals (previously stylized as ''DEAL$'') was an American chain of discount variety stores owned by Dollar Tree. The chain operated more than 221 stores located in shopping centers, malls (until 2015), and urban areas in 19 states throughout the U ...

, where it twists and turns along a mountain pass running along the

Little Tennessee River The Little Tennessee River is a tributary of the Tennessee River that flows through the Blue Ridge Mountains from Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, into North Carolina, and then into Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. It drains portio ...

. This section is known as the Tail of the Dragon (or simply "The Dragon"), popular to driving enthusiasts (of

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...

s and

sports car A sports car is a car designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1900s and are currently produced by ...

s). It then starts running along the banks of the river, where it has an intersection with the

Foothills Parkway The Foothills Parkway is a national parkway which traverses the foothills of the northern Great Smoky Mountains in East Tennessee, located in the southeastern United States. The 72.1-mile (114 km) parkway will connect U.S. Route 129 (U.S. ...

before passing by

Chilhowee Dam Chilhowee Dam is a hydroelectric dam located in Blount and Monroe counties, Tennessee, United States, between river mile 33 and 34 on the Little Tennessee River. Construction began in 1955 and was completed in 1957. The dam's reservoir covers ...

and going through Tallassee. US 129 then briefly enters

Monroe County Monroe County may refer to seventeen counties in the United States, all named for James Monroe: * Monroe County, Alabama *Monroe County, Arkansas * Monroe County, Florida * Monroe County, Georgia *Monroe County, Illinois *Monroe County, Indian ...

and has an intersection with SR 72. It then re enters Blount County and enters farmland, where it has an intersection with SR 336 in Lanier. US 129 continues northeast through farmland to Clover Hill, where it becomes concurrent with US 411/ SR 33. Prior to this point, US 129 is a narrow 2-lane highway known as Calderwood Highway. The then continue north to enter the city of Maryville as a 4-lane undivided highway, where it passes through a business district, where they have an intersection with SR 335 (William Blount Drive), and suburban areas before coming to an interchange, where US 129 separates from US 411/SR 33 (Broadway Avenue) and bypasses downtown on the west side. US 129 becomes an expressway known as US 129 Bypass as it passes by Foothills Mall and has intersections with

US 321 U.S. Route 321 (US 321) is a spur of U.S. Route 21. It runs for from Hardeeville, South Carolina to Lenoir City, Tennessee; with both serving as southern termini. It reaches its northernmost point at Elizabethton, Tennessee. Because o ...

/ SR 73 (Lamar Alexander Boulevard), Foothills Mall Drive ( SR 446), and Foch Street before crossing into the neighboring town of

Alcoa Alcoa Corporation (an acronym for Aluminum Company of America) is a Pittsburgh-based industrial corporation. It is the world's eighth-largest producer of aluminum. Alcoa conducts operations in 10 countries. Alcoa is a major producer of primary ...

. US 129 then has an intersection with Louisville Road, which provides access to the neighboring town of

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

, before crossing some railroad tracks at-grade before coming to an interchange with SR 35 (N Hall Road). US 129 becomes known as Airport Highway and has an interchange with SR 335 (Hunt Road) and 2 interchanges for

McGhee Tyson Airport McGhee Tyson Airport is a public/military airport 12 miles south of Knoxville,. Federal Aviation Administration. effective November 15, 2012. in Alcoa, Blount County, Tennessee, United States. It is named for United States Navy pilot Charles Mc ...

. It then becomes known as Alcoa Highway, a name that it keeps all the way to its northern end. It becomes an at 4-lane divided highway and passes through a major business district before having an intersection with Airbase Road ( SR 429) and coming to an interchange with Pellissippi Parkway ( I-140, Exit 11 A/B). The stretch between the airport and I-140 is often considered dangerous and even deadly due to the amount of traffic and crashes on the highway. US 129 continues through suburban areas before having an intersection with SR 333 (Topside Road) before leaving Alcoa. It then crosses a bridge over the

Little River Little River may refer to several places: Australia Streams New South Wales *Little River (Dubbo), source in the Dubbo region, a tributary of the Macquarie River * Little River (Oberon), source in the Oberon Shire, a tributary of Coxs River (Haw ...

to enter Knox County.

Knox County

US 129 immediately enters the city limits of

and has an interchange with SR 168 (Governor

John Sevier John Sevier (September 23, 1745 September 24, 1815) was an American soldier, frontiersman, and politician, and one of the founding fathers of the State of Tennessee. A member of the Democratic-Republican Party, he played a leading role in Tennes ...

Highway). It then passes through a business district before going through wooded areas, where it becomes a freeway and has an interchange with Cherokee Trail, where it widens to 6-lanes, and an interchange for Cherokee Farm. US 129 then crosses 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, ...

via the J. E. Buck Karnes Bridge and runs along the western edge of The

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

campus and downtown, while having interchanges with

US 11 {{Infobox road , country=USA , type=US , route=11 , map={{maplink, frame=yes, plain=yes, frame-align=center, frame-width=290, frame-height=330, type=line, from=U.S. Route 11.map , map_custom=yes , map_notes=US 11 in red, US 11E in blue, US 11W in ...

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/ SR 158 (Neyland Drive) and

Kingston Pike Kingston Pike is a highway in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, that connects Downtown Knoxville with West Knoxville, Farragut, and other communities in the western part of the county. The road follows a merged stretch of U.S. Route 11 ...

. US 129 then continues north through industrial areas before coming to an end at 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 ...

(Exit 386 A).

State Route 115

State Route 115 (SR 115) is the hidden state route that overlaps the entire route of US 129 in the state of

. The highway is 52.8 miles (85 km) long and is located entirely in

. It begins in Blount County and ends in Knox County. It is completely unsigned, with the exception of mileposts, with the highway being solely signed as US 129.

History

The Alcoa Highway portion of US 129 was first constructed and completed as a two-lane roadway from Knoxville to Blount County in 1939 to provide access to the then recently opened McGhee Tyson Airport. US 129's bridge over the

was completed in 1935, and was named after James Ernest Karnes (a.k.a. J. E. "Buck" Karnes), a Knoxville recipient of the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. ...

. By 1963, Alcoa Highway was widened into a four-lane median-divided facility between I-40 and McGhee Tyson Airport. Several upgrades improving

mobility Mobility may refer to: Social sciences and humanities * Economic mobility, ability of individuals or families to improve their economic status * Geographic mobility, the measure of how populations and goods move over time * Mobilities, a contemp ...

were constructed on the Knoxville-Knox County section of Alcoa Highway, including replacements of at-grade intersections with

interchanges Interchange may refer to: Transport * Interchange (road), a collection of ramps, exits, and entrances between two or more highways * Interchange (freight rail), the transfer of freight cars between railroad companies * Interchange station, a rai ...

at the

University of Tennessee Medical Center The University of Tennessee Medical Center (UTMC) is an academic medical center located in Knoxville, Tennessee and serves as a referral center for East Tennessee and regions in Kentucky and North Carolina. The University of Tennessee Graduate Sch ...

(UTMC) and John Sevier Highway in the mid-1970s and mid-1980s respectively. Increasing congestion on Alcoa Highway in Knoxville prompted pushes from residents to form a neighborhood group Make Alcoa a Safe Highway (MASH) in the early 1980s, seeking to address concerns of safety on the highway. In 1986, MASH issued a report with immediate request and short and long-term range plans. Several of the recommendations were established such as a ban of parking on the US 129's

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 ...

, speed limit enforcement, and highway lighting. Major planning by the

Tennessee Department of Transportation The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) is a multimodal agency with statewide responsibilities in roadways, aviation, public transit, waterways, and railroads. The mission of TDOT is to provide a safe and reliable transportation syste ...

(TDOT) in the 1980s and 1990s recommended median crossing closures, new overpass structures, and the widening into a six-lane facility. The construction of the

Pellissippi Parkway The Pellissippi Parkway is a major highway in Knox and Blount counties in the Knoxville metropolitan area in Tennessee that extends from State Route 62 at Solway to SR 33 in Alcoa. It provides access to the cities of Oak Ridge ...

from Oak Ridge to Alcoa required the construction of a

cloverleaf interchange A cloverleaf interchange is a two-level interchange in which all turns are handled by slip roads. To go left (in right-hand traffic; reverse directions in left-driving regions), vehicles first continue as one road passes over or under the ...

at US 129, which was completed in the late 1990s. Around the same time, the City of Knoxville installed lighting along the highway from the Little River north to the UTMC following

annexation Annexation (Latin ''ad'', to, and ''nexus'', joining), in international law, is the forcible acquisition of one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. It is generally held to be an illegal act ...

of the US 129 right-of-way and selected neighboring commercial and residential land-uses. Improvements were made to the US 129 interchange at I-40 and the "Buck" Karnes bridge was replaced with a new six-lane structure by the early 2000s. By 2000, TDOT began property acquisitions for the planned expansions of Alcoa Highway between I-40 and the Little River. In 2014, TDOT announced plans for improvements to the Alcoa Highway section of US 129 from I-40 to McGhee Tyson Airport in Blount County. The massive project, consisting of seven phases, called for the conversion of Alcoa Highway from a non-access-controlled highway into a full

controlled-access highway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...

(freeway). The overall project was given an initial cost of more than $233 million. The first phase of the project to begin was the Maloney Road to Woodson Drive phase in South Knoxville, with contract bidding opening in February 2016. Construction work on the Maloney to Woodson phase of the Alcoa Highway improvement project began in June of the same year. This section would be mostly complete by the fall of 2021, when new revisions for an access roadway to the Montlake Drive interchange were issued, expecting to be finished in the winter 2022.

Junction list

References

*Tennessee Department of Transportation (24 January 2003). "State Highway and Interstate List 2003".

External links

*
Tennessee Department of Transportation
{{state detail page browse, type=US, route=129, state=Tennessee, statebefore=North Carolina, stateafter= 129 Transportation in Blount County, Tennessee Transportation in Monroe County, Tennessee Transportation in Knox County, Tennessee Tennessee Freeways in Tennessee Transportation in Knoxville, Tennessee