U.S. Route 19

U.S. Route 19 or U.S. Highway 19 (US 19) is a north–south United States Numbered Highway in the Eastern United States. Despite encroaching Interstate Highways, the route has remained a long-haul road, connecting the Gulf of Mexico with Lake Erie.

The highway's southern terminus is at Memphis, Florida, which is just south of St. Petersburg at an intersection with US 41. Its northern terminus is in Erie, Pennsylvania, at an intersection with US 20 about from the shores of Lake Erie.

The length of the highway is , including both US 19E/US 19W paths through North Carolina and Tennessee.

Route description

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Florida

US 19 runs along Florida's west coast from an interchange with US 41 in Memphis, south of St. Petersburg, and continues to the Georgia border north of Monticello. US 19 remains independent of Interstate 75 (I-75), even as the routes converge in the Tampa Bay area. The route is cosigned with I-275 over the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, a cable-stayed bridge over the mouth of Tampa Bay, US 98 between the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge and Perry, US 27 Alternate (US 27 Alt.) between Chiefland and Perry, and US 27 between and Perry and Capps.

The unsigned designation for US 19 in Florida, between Memphis and Perry, is State Road 55 (SR 55). Between Perry and Capps, it follows SR 20, and, between Capps and the Georgia border, it follows SR 57.

According to a 2005 '' Dateline NBC'' report, part of US 19 in Florida may be the most dangerous road in the U.S. A Highway Patrol test period beginning in 1998 and ending in 2003, as mandated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, showed the stretch of US 19 from Pasco to Pinellas county to average approximately 52 deaths a year, or 262 deaths in the five-year duration of the study; 100 of these deaths were pedestrian related, making US 19 the worst road to walk on in these two counties. Multiple efforts to improve US 19 have been suggested to the Florida Department of Transportation, among them, an overpass strictly for left-turn lanes.

Currently, US 19 between Clearwater and St. Petersburg is getting a freeway-style upgrade due to the cancelation of an extension of I-375 in the late 1970s.

Georgia

US 19 enters Georgia just south of Thomasville as Lee Highway, concurrent with State Route 3 (SR 3). It continues north, passing through Albany, Americus, Ellaville, Butler, Thomaston, and Zebulon. It becomes concurrent with US 41 in Griffin. It then proceeds through the western tip of Henry County, passing through Hampton, home of Atlanta Motor Speedway, and continues north through Clayton County and Jonesboro, entering Atlanta.

US 19/US 41 travels through the south side of Atlanta as Metropolitan Parkway (formerly Stewart Avenue) and through Downtown Atlanta as Northside Drive. The concurrencies with US 41 and SR 3 end when US 19 turns east onto 14th Street in Midtown, beginning a concurrency with SR 9. It then turns north on Peachtree Street until it intersects with SR 141 in Buckhead and becomes Roswell Road. US 19 then continues north through Sandy Springs until it reaches I-285's north side. There, the concurrency with SR 9 ends and US 19 is briefly concurrent with I-285, for about .

US 19 leaves I-285 to travel through the northern suburbs of Atlanta along SR 400. Most of this section is a limited-access road with four lanes in each direction, becoming two lanes in each direction as the highway continues away from the northern suburbs of Atlanta. It picks back up as Lee Highway north of Atlanta. It arrives in Dahlonega, where it is no longer concurrent with SR 400, before about of extremely curvy road, which includes a concurrency with US 129. The last major town it travels through in Georgia is Blairsville.

North Carolina

US 19 is cosigned with US 129 from the Georgia line to Murphy as Lee Highway, then is cosigned with US 74, as well as US 129 as far as Graham County. US 129 vears away from US 19, heading north to Robbinsville, and continuing to Maryville, Tennessee. US 19 and US 74 are cosigned as far as Ela, after which US 74 veers south, leaving US 19 to head into the Great Smoky Mountains. US 19 passes through the Qualla Boundary. For a brief time, US 19 is cosigned with US 276. Then, US 19 is cosigned with US 23 from Lake Junaluska to Mars Hill (and with US 70 in Asheville), which closely parallels I-40 and then Future I-26.

Just north of Mars Hill, US 19 continues solo to Cane River, where US 19 splits: US 19E toward Burnsville and US 19W toward Erwin, Tennessee.

U.S. Route 19E

Traversing from Cane River, North Carolina, to Bluff City, Tennessee, US 19E first goes east to Burnsville and Spruce Pine, then north along the banks of the North Toe River to Cranberry and Elk Park, before crossing the North Carolina–Tennessee state line. Heading northeast, it goes through Roan Mountain, Hampton, and Elizabethton, rendezvousing with US 19W in Bluff City.

U.S. Route 19W

Traversing from Cane River, North Carolina, to Bluff City, Tennessee, US 19W goes immediately north along the banks of the Cane River to the communities of Ramseytown and Sioux, then northwest through the Unaka Range, crossing the North Carolina–Tennessee state line. At Ernestville, US 19W joins with I-26/ US 23 and proceeds through Erwin, Unicoi, and Johnson City. In Johnson City, it switches partners to US 11E along Bristol Highway, rendezvousing with US 19E in Bluff City.

Tennessee

US 19 starts again in Bluff City, heading northeast along the Volunteer Parkway (and concurrency with US 11E) to Bristol. In downtown Bristol, US 19 crosses the Tennessee–Virginia state line on State Street.

Virginia

US 19 goes northeast from Bristol, parallel to I-81, until Abingdon. It then heads north to Lebanon, through Clinch Mountain, then northeast again through the towns of Claypool Hill, Tazewell, and then finally to Bluefield, where it enters West Virginia.

West Virginia

US 19 enters West Virginia as a four-lane highway in Bluefield, where it narrows to two lanes as it winds northward. It later parallels I-77/ I-64 until it reaches Beckley, where it goes northeasterly on an expressway-grade four-lane highway. Crossing the New River via the New River Gorge Bridge near Fayetteville, it passes through Summersville and Birch River before arriving at I-79, south of Sutton. From there, it runs concurrent with I-79 from exit 57 to exit 67 at Flatwoods. Then, it exits and reverts to a two-lane highway, more or less following the route of I-79 as it passes through Weston, Clarksburg, Fairmont, and Morgantown before crossing into Pennsylvania. The distance from Beckley from I-79 is also known as Appalachian Development Highway System (ADHS) Corridor L. It allows traffic to the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, area to bypass Charleston, and is thus part of a main link from Charlotte, North Carolina, and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, to Pittsburgh.

Pennsylvania

US 19 is closely paralleled by I-79 for its entire length. From the state line, it goes north to Washington and then through Pittsburgh. In Downtown Pittsburgh, US 19 crosses the Ohio River via West End Bridge. In Cranberry Township, north of Pittsburgh, US 19 shares a major junction between I-76 (Pennsylvania Turnpike) and I-79, via the Cranberry Connector. US 19 crosses I-80 in the East Lackawannock Township. Near Erie, it crosses I-90 before going through the downtown area, ending at US 20 (26th Street).

ADHS corridors

US 19 overlaps with three corridors that are part of the ADHS, which is part of Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC). Passed in 1965, the purpose of the ADHS is to generate economic development in previously isolated areas, supplement the Interstate Highway System, connect Appalachia to the Interstate System, and provide access to areas within the region as well as to markets in the rest of the nation.

* Corridor A – From I-285, in Sandy Springs, Georgia, to I-40, near Clyde, North Carolina. US 19/ SR 400 overlaps from Sandy Springs to SR 141, near Cumming in Georgia. The entire section is a controlled-access highway.
* Corridor A-1 – From SR 141, near Cumming, Georgia, to SR 53, near Dawsonville, Georgia. The entire section of US 19/ SR 400 is authorized for ADHS funding. The entire route is a divided four-lane highway, with the southern section a controlled-access highway and the northern section being a limited-access road.
* Corridor K – From I-75, in Cleveland, Tennessee, to US 23, in Dillsboro, North Carolina. US 19 overlaps from US 64/ US 74, near Murphy, to US 74 (Great Smoky Mountains Expressway), near Bryson City. The routing is a four-lane limited-access road from near Murphy to Andrews; the rest is two-lane through the Nantahala Gorge