U.S. Route 19 (US 19) 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 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 ...

. It travels from the

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

state line south-southeast of

Thomasville, Georgia Thomasville is the county seat of Thomas County, Georgia, United States. The population was 18,413 at the 2010 United States Census, making it the second largest city in southwest Georgia after Albany, Georgia, Albany. The city deems itself the "C ...

, through Albany and

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, to 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 at a point north of

Lake Nottely Lake Nottely (also called Nottely Reservoir) is one of many reservoirs of the Tennessee Valley Authority. It is located entirely in Union County, Georgia in the United States and within the Chatahoochee-Oconee National Forests. Formed in 1942 by t ...

Route description

US 19 enters Georgia in a concurrency with SR 3 and SR 300 as Lee Highway' south-southeast of Thomasville. Within the vicinity of Thomasville, it has a concurrency with US 84 where it has intersections with SR 122 and US 319 before US 84 finally branches off to the west. It continues north, traveling through Meigs where it intersects SR 3 Alt. and SR 111. Later, it runs through Albany, where it becomes a limited-access highway, has a brief concurrency with US 82, and the concurrency with SR 300 comes to an end. Further north, it runs through Americus, where it joins US 280 for , then Ellaville, where it intersects SR 26. Between Taylor and Upson County, it has a concurrency with US 80 that ends south of Thomaston, and later runs through

Zebulon Zebulun (; also ''Zebulon'', ''Zabulon'', or ''Zaboules'') was, according to the Books of Book of Genesis, Genesis and Book of Numbers, Numbers,Genesis 46:14 the last of the six sons of Jacob and Leah (Jacob's tenth son), and the founder of the ...

where it runs in a one-way pair and intersects SR 18. It joins US 41 and proceeds north to

Griffin The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (Ancient Greek: , ''gryps''; Classical Latin: ''grȳps'' or ''grȳpus''; Late Latin, Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a legendary creature with the body, tail ...

. It then proceeds through the western tip of Henry County, traveling through

Hampton Hampton may refer to: Places Australia *Hampton bioregion, an IBRA biogeographic region in Western Australia *Hampton, New South Wales *Hampton, Queensland, a town in the Toowoomba Region *Hampton, Victoria Canada *Hampton, New Brunswick *Hamp ...

, home of the

Atlanta Motor Speedway Atlanta Motor Speedway (formerly known Atlanta International Raceway from 1960 to 1990) is a 1.54-mile entertainment facility in Hampton, Georgia, United States, 20 miles (32 km) south of Atlanta. It has annually hosted NASCAR Cup Series ...

. US 19 continues north through

Clayton County Clayton County is the name of two counties in the United States: * Clayton County, Georgia in the Atlanta Metropolitan Area * Clayton County, Iowa It was also the former name of Clay County, Arkansas Clay County is a County (United States), co ...

where it is known as

Tara Boulevard Tara may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *Tara (1992 film), ''Tara'' (1992 film), an Indian film directed by Bijaya Jena *Tara (2001 film), ''Tara'' (2001 film), an American film, also known as ''Hood Rat'', directed by Lesl ...

, before entering

. Within Atlanta, US 19/US 41 runs along

Northside Drive Northside Drive is a road in Atlanta which begins on Whitehall Street in Castleberry Hill just north of Interstate 20 in Georgia, Interstate 20 (I-20), and ends by abruptly turning right near the Chattahoochee River in Sandy Sprin ...

where it is joined by

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 3 Connector (Chapel Street Southwest). From there, US 9/US 29/US 41/SR 3 runs north and then curves northeast, passing by a group of condominiums called "The Villages of Castleberry Hill", before the road curves straight north between Nelson Street Southwest and Markham Street Southwest. Here the routes run along the west side of the

Mercedes-Benz Stadium Mercedes-Benz Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Opened in August 2017 as a replacement for the Georgia Dome, it serves as the home stadium of the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL) ...

next door to the

Georgia World Congress Center The Georgia World Congress Center (GWCC) is a convention center in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. Enclosing some 3.9 million ft2 (360,000 m2) in exhibition space and hosting more than a million visitors each year, the GWCC is the worl ...

. US 29 leaves the concurrency with US 19/US 41 in the vicinity

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

, and turns northwest onto US 78/ US 278/ SR 8, which leaves US 9/US 41 to go west. The highway briefly curves northeast as it passes over some

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31 ...

lines, then turns north again at a partial interchange with Tech Parkway Northwest. Leaving the vicinity of Georgia Tech, it splits from US 41/SR 3 after traveling through downtown Atlanta and turns right onto on 14th Street, which is also the western beginning of SR 9. One block after the interchange with

I-75 Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes and Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end in 5, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, traveling from St ...

I-85 Interstate 85 (I-85) is a major Interstate Highway in the Southeastern United States. Its southern terminus is at an interchange with Interstate 65, I-65 in Montgomery, Alabama; its northern terminus is an interchange with Interstate 95, I ...

(Downtown Connector) in Midtown, it has an intersection with a one-way pair with Spring Street (southbound US 9) before turning north on

Peachtree Street Peachtree Street is one of several major streets running through the city of Atlanta. Beginning at Five Points (Atlanta), Five Points in downtown Atlanta, it runs North through Midtown Atlanta, Midtown; a few blocks after entering into Buckhead ...

The one-way pair ends at the vicinity of a complex interchange with SR 13 and the

Savannah College of Art and Design Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) is a private nonprofit art school with locations in Savannah, Georgia; Atlanta, Georgia; and Lacoste, France. Founded in 1978 to provide degrees in programs not yet offered in the southeast of the Unit ...

Atlanta Campus, just south of a crossing over I-85, which includes the historic Peachtree (Amtrak station). After several miles, it intersects SR 141 in

Buckhead Buckhead is the uptown commercial and residential district of the city of Atlanta, Georgia, comprising approximately the northernmost fifth of the city. Buckhead is the third largest business district within the Atlanta city limits, behind Downt ...

, where Peachtree Street continues. It follows

Roswell Road State Route 9 (SR 9), (known locally as Highway 9) is an north–south state highway in the northern part of the U.S. state of Georgia. It travels from Atlanta to Turners Corner, north-northeast of Dahlonega. It is concurrent with ...

north through the city of

Sandy Springs Sandy Springs is a city in northern Fulton County, Georgia and an inner ring suburb of Atlanta. The city's population was 108,080 at the 2020 census, making it Georgia's seventh-largest city. It is the site of several corporate headquarters, i ...

. At its southern interchange with I-285, it splits from SR 9, and overlaps I-285 between exits 25 and 27, the latter of which is for SR 400, which it overlaps north of there. Most of this section is a

limited-access road A limited-access road, known by various terms worldwide, including limited-access highway, dual-carriageway, expressway, limited access freeway, and partial controlled access highway, is a highway or arterial road for high-speed traffic which ...

with four lanes in each direction, becoming two lanes in each direction as the highway continues away from the northern suburbs of Atlanta. It arrives in

Dahlonega The city of Dahlonega () is the county seat of Lumpkin County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 5,242, and in 2018 the population was estimated to be 6,884. Dahlonega is located at the north end of ...

, where it is no longer concurrent with SR 400, before about of extremely curvy road, which includes a concurrency with US 129. From the north side of the state, the last major town it travels through is Blairsville. Northwest from there, US 9/US 29/SR 11 passes the southwest border of the Butternut Creek Golf Course before entering

Youngstown Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, and the largest city and county seat of Mahoning County. At the 2020 census, Youngstown had a city population of 60,068. It is a principal city of the Youngstown–Warren metropolitan area, which ...

. The road turns north again where it utilizes a short causeway over Wellborn Branch, a tributary of the

Nottely River The Nottely River is a river in the United States. The river originates in the Blue Ridge Mountains in northern Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The river flows for U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataT ...

before intersecting the northern terminus of Pat Haralson Memorial Drive. The road enters

Canal Lake Canal Lake is a lake of Ontario, Canada, situated in the City of Kawartha Lakes. The lake is triangular, roughly long and at its widest point, with an area of . The depth ranges from to a max depth of . Canal Lake is a medium size lake with a ...

where another short causeway that makes a pond leading to Stevens Branch Creek. In Ivylog, the eastern terminus of SR 325 can be found across from Ivy Log Road. At the southwest corner of the

state line, SR 11 meets its northern terminus, while US 9 continues towards

Erie, Pennsylvania Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...

and US 29 continues towards

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Tennessee, 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 Di ...

. The following portions of US 19 in Georgia 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: *From the Florida state line to the I-75 interchange west of Morrow *From the SR 13 interchange in Atlanta to the North Carolina state line.

History

US 19 has been gradually four-laned since the 1950s. Initially, this was in the urban areas, but Georgia began four-laning the route through most of the rural sections of the state in the 1990s. The section from Griffin to Thomaston was four-laned by the early 1990s, while the section from Thomaston to Leesburg was completed in sections between 2000-2010. In 2006, business and government officials in

Southwest Georgia Southwest Georgia is a fourteen-county region in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It has a 2010 census population of 496,433, and is the least populated region in Georgia, just slightly behind Southeast Georgia. Additionally, the ...

began a campaign to have I-185 extended to

Monticello, Florida Monticello ( ) is the only city in Jefferson County, Florida, United States. The population was 2,506 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Jefferson County. The city is named after Monticello, the estate of the county's namesake, Thomas ...

, and connect with

I-10 Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost cross-country highway in the American Interstate Highway System. I-10 is the fourth-longest Interstate in the United States at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. This freeway is part of the originally pl ...

. The proposed route of the highway would have traveled parallel to SR 520 (known as "Corridor Z") to Albany, and then parallel to US 19. Local opposition to the plan soon emerged. Critics argued that the proposed interstate would siphon business from small towns that the new road bypassed. In 2009, Georgia's Department of Transportation concluded a two-year study of the proposal, which found that extending I-185 would "be inconsistent with existing comprehensive land use plans; would have a negative impact on prime agricultural land, forests and cultural assets; and could have a detrimental impact on poverty and minority populations". GDOT announced it would instead focus on upgrading and improving other key arterial highways in southwest Georgia, including SR 133 between Albany and

Valdosta Valdosta is a city in and the county seat of Lowndes County, Georgia, United States. As of 2019, Valdosta had an estimated population of 56,457. Valdosta is the principal city of the Valdosta Metropolitan Statistical Area, which in 2021 had a ...

Major intersections

References

External links

Route description

History

Major intersections

See also

References

External links