State Route 72 (SR 72) 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 Route number, numbered or maintained by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered ...

that runs west-to-east through portions of

Clarke Clarke is a surname which means "clerk". The surname is of English and Irish origin and comes from the Latin . Variants include Clerk and Clark. Clarke is also uncommonly chosen as a given name. Irish surname origin Clarke is a common surname ...

, Madison, and Elbert counties in the northeastern part of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. This route is part of a multi two-state route 72 that begins at

Athens, Georgia Athens is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. Downtown Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta. The University of Georgia, the state's flagship public university and an Research I university, ...

and ends at

Rock Hill, South Carolina Rock Hill is the most populous city in York County, South Carolina, United States, and the List of municipalities in South Carolina, 5th-most populous city in the state. It is also the 4th-most populous city of the Charlotte metropolitan area, be ...

. The route connects the Athens area with the

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

state line, southwest of

Calhoun Falls, South Carolina Calhoun Falls is a town in Abbeville County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 1,724 at the 2020 census, down from 2,004 at the 2010 census. The town derives its name from James Edward Colhoun (or Calhoun). Geography Calhoun Fa ...

, via Comer and Elberton.

Route description

SR 72 begins at an

intersection In mathematics, the intersection of two or more objects is another object consisting of everything that is contained in all of the objects simultaneously. For example, in Euclidean geometry, when two lines in a plane are not parallel, their ...

with US 29/ SR 8 in the northeastern part of

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, on the northern edge of Athens Technical College, in Clarke County. It travels to the northeast, crossing into Madison County and passes through the towns of

Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * The hull of an armored fighting vehicle, housing the chassis * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a sea-going craft * Submarine hull Ma ...

and Colbert, and meets the western terminus of SR 172, just northeast of Colbert. Just before entering and bypassing Comer, the route crosses over the

South Fork Broad River South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz' ...

. While bypassing the town, it intersects the eastern terminus of SR 22 and the southern terminus of SR 98. SR 72 departs Comer, passing northeast of Watson Mill Bridge State Park, before bypassing Carlton. It heads northeast, crossing over the Broad River into Elbert County. It continues northeast toward Elberton. Just before entering town, it begins a

concurrency Concurrent means happening at the same time. Concurrency, concurrent, or concurrence may refer to: Law * Concurrence, in jurisprudence, the need to prove both ''actus reus'' and ''mens rea'' * Concurring opinion (also called a "concurrence"), a ...

with SR 17 (Bowman Highway). In town, it intersects SR 77 (Oliver Street). On the southeastern edge of town, SR 17 splits off to the southeast onto Elbert Street, while SR 72 heads east-southeast. It passes through

rural area In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry are typically desc ...

s of the county, and intersects the northern terminus of SR 79 (Lincolnton Highway) right before crossing the

border. At the South Carolina line, it crosses over Richard B. Russell Lake. There, the roadway continues to the northwest, toward Calhoun Falls, as South Carolina Highway 72. The entire length of SR 72 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.

Future

GDOT proposed to widen SR 72 into a four-lane road with a green grass

median The median of a set of numbers is the value separating the higher half from the lower half of a Sample (statistics), data sample, a statistical population, population, or a probability distribution. For a data set, it may be thought of as the “ ...

from an

of SR 17 in Elberton to the

state line. The project was made to make the multi-state route 72 into a four-lane highway with some stretch miles of being a divided highway from its western terminus at

to an interchange of

Interstate 26 Interstate 26 (I-26) is a main route of the Interstate Highway System in the Southeastern United States. Nominally east–west, as indicated by its even number, I-26 runs from the junction of U.S. Route 11W, US Route 11W (US 11W) ...

(I-26) at

Clinton, South Carolina Clinton is a city in Laurens County, South Carolina, Laurens County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 8,490 as of the United States Census, 2010, 2010 census. It is part of the Greenville, South Carolina, Greenville–Mauldin ...

Major intersections

References

External links

{{Attached KML, display=inline,title
Georgia Roads (Routes 61 - 80)
072 Transportation in Athens, Georgia Transportation in Clarke County, Georgia Transportation in Madison County, Georgia Transportation in Elbert County, Georgia

Route description

Future

Major intersections

See also

References

External links