U.S. Route 11E (US 11E) is a divided highway of US 11 in the U.S. states of

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

and

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. The

United States Numbered 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 ...

, which is complemented by US 11W to the north and west, runs from US 11, US 11W, and US 70 in

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...

, north and east to US 11, US 11W, US 19, and US 421 in

Bristol, Virginia Bristol is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 17,219. It is the Twin cities (geographical proxi ...

. US 11E connects Knoxville and the

twin cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in stat ...

of Bristol, Virginia, and

Bristol, Tennessee Bristol is a city in Sullivan County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 27,147 at the 2020 census. It is the twin city of Bristol, Virginia, which lies directly across the state line between Tennessee and Virginia. The boundary be ...

, with the

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 coun ...

communities of Morristown, Greeneville, and Johnson City. The U.S. Highway runs concurrently with US 70 and US 25W east of Knoxville, US 321 from Greeneville and Johnson City, and both US 19W and US 19 between Johnson City and Bristol. US 11E also has an unsigned concurrency with State Route 34 (SR 34) for almost all of its course in Tennessee.

Route description

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Knoxville to Morristown

US 11E begins at an intersection with the northern terminus of mainline US 11 in Tennessee, the southern end of US 11W, and US 70 in Knoxville. US 11 and US 70 head west as Magnolia Avenue toward Zoo Knoxville and Downtown Knoxville; US 11W heads northeast along Rutledge Pike. US 11E heads east together with US 70 as Asheville Highway, a four-lane divided highway that leaves the city of Knoxville at its

diamond interchange A diamond interchange is a common type of road junction, used where a controlled-access highway crosses a minor road. Design The freeway itself is grade separation, grade-separated from the minor road, one crossing the other over a bridge. ...

with Interstate 40 (I-40). US 11E and US 70 are joined by US 25W at the I-40 interchange; the three highways use the J. Will Taylor Bridge to cross the

Holston River The Holston River is a river that flows from Kingsport, Tennessee, to Knoxville, Tennessee. Along with its three major forks (North Fork, Middle Fork and South Fork), it comprises a major river system that drains much of northeastern Tennessee ...

and meet the eastern end of SR 168 (Governor John Sevier Highway). At

Carter Carter(s), or Carter's, Tha Carter, or The Carter(s), may refer to: Geography United States * Carter, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Carter, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Carter, Montana, a census-designated place * Carter ...

(also known as Trentville), US 25W and US 70 continue east as Asheville Highway while US 11E splits northeast as four-lane divided Andrew Johnson Highway. The U.S. Highway crosses the Knox– Jefferson county line in Strawberry Plains, where the highway intersects SR 139 (Old Dandridge Pike). US 11E passes through the town of New Market on its way to Jefferson City, which contains

Carson–Newman University Carson-Newman University is a private university in Jefferson City, Tennessee, United States. Carson-Newman is affiliated with the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board. Founded in 1851, the university enrolls about 2,500 students. Studies are offe ...

. At the west end of the town, the U.S. Highway intersects SR 92, which follows a part of US 11E's old alignment, Old Andrew Johnson Highway. SR 92 runs concurrently with US 11E to south of downtown Jefferson City, where it heads south toward the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

of Dandridge. US 11E crosses over

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The comp ...

's Knoxville East District and enters Hamblen County at Talbott, where the highway intersects SR 341 (Talbott Kansas Road). The U.S. Highway continues through

Alpha Alpha (uppercase , lowercase ) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of one. Alpha is derived from the Phoenician letter ''aleph'' , whose name comes from the West Semitic word for ' ...

(which has been annexed by the city of Morristown), the site of several industrial parks, the

National Weather Service The National Weather Service (NWS) is an Government agency, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weathe ...

forecast office for

Southwest Virginia Southwest Virginia, often abbreviated as SWVA, is a mountainous region of Virginia in the westernmost part of the commonwealth. Located within the broader region of western Virginia, Southwest Virginia has been defined alternatively as all V ...

and

Western North Carolina Western North Carolina (often abbreviated as WNC) is the region of North Carolina which includes the Appalachian Mountains; it is often known geographically as the state's Mountain Region. It contains the highest mountains in the Eastern United S ...

, the

Morristown Regional Airport Morristown Regional Airport (formerly called Moore–Murrell Airport) is a city-owned public-use airport located four nautical miles (7 km) southwest of the central business district of Morristown, a city in Hamblen County, Tennessee, United ...

, and the highway's southern intersection with SR 342 and the northern terminus of SR 160 (Air Park Boulevard). The two highways run concurrently until SR 342 heads north as Panther Creek Road toward

Panther Creek State Park Panther Creek State Park is a state park in Morristown, Tennessee, United States. It is located prominently on the shore of Cherokee Lake, an impoundment of the Holston River The Holston River is a river that flows from Kingsport, Tennes ...

just west of the city limits of Morristown.

Morristown to Johnson City

US 11E heads through a commercial area along Andrew Johnson Highway to west of downtown Morristown, where the highway turns southeast onto Morris Boulevard, a five-lane road with center turn lane that crosses the railroad tracks and passes through an industrial area where the highway intersects SR 66 (Fairmont Avenue). US 11E intersects SR 343 (Cumberland Street) and passes College Square Mall before reaching a

partial cloverleaf interchange A partial cloverleaf interchange or parclo is a modification of a cloverleaf interchange. The design has been well received, and has since become one of the most popular freeway-to-arterial interchange designs in North America. It has also bee ...

with US 25E (Davy Crockett Parkway). US 11E heads north along the freeway for before another partial cloverleaf interchange where the highway becomes concurrent with SR 66 along Andrew Johnson Highway. The two highways closely parallel the railroad line as a two-lane road and leave the city limits of Morristown just west of Russellville, where SR 344 splits northeast along Old Russellville Pike. US 11E and SR 66 pass through Whitesburg shortly before curving southeast and entering Hawkins County. The U.S. and state highways diverge in the town of Bulls Gap shortly before US 11E crosses a perpendicular rail line and follows the Knoxville East District through Bulls Gap, a low point in Bays Mountain. US 11E continues southeast into Greene County and Mosheim city limits, where the highway expands to a four-lane divided highway after it passes

Volunteer Speedway Volunteer Speedway is a 4/10 mile long dirt race track located in Greene County in the eastern part of Tennessee, in Mosheim (14095 West Andrew Johnson Highway, Bulls Gap, TN postal address). It is known as "The World's Fastest Dirt Track". It ...

and has a diamond interchange with

I-81 Interstate 81 (I-81) is a north–south (physically northeast–southwest) Interstate Highway in the eastern part of the United States. Its southern terminus is at I-40 in Dandridge, Tennessee; its northern terminus is on Wellesley Isla ...

. The U.S. Highway crosses Lick Creek and passes through the town of Mosheim before reaching the town of Greeneville the home of

Andrew Johnson National Historic Site Andrew Johnson National Historic Site is a National Historic Site in Greeneville, Tennessee, maintained by the National Park Service. It was established to honor Andrew Johnson, the 17th president of the United States, who became president afte ...

. On westside of the town, US 11E has a partial cloverleaf interchange with Blue Springs Parkway, which heads east as US 11E Business and SR 70 (Summer Street). SR 70 joins the U.S. Highway for a short distance before heading north as Lonesome Pine Trail. US 11E has an interchange with SR 172 (Baileyton Road) before closely spaced intersections with US 321 (North Main Street), which joins US 11E in a concurrency, and the southern terminus of SR 93 (Kingsport Highway). After crossing the Knoxville East rail line, the U.S. Highway receives the eastern end of its business route and SR 107 (Tusculum Boulevard). SR 107 runs concurrently with the U.S. Highways east to the city of

Tusculum Tusculum is a ruined Classical Rome, Roman city in the Alban Hills, in the Latium region of Italy. Tusculum was most famous in Roman times for the many great and luxurious patrician country villas sited close to the city, yet a comfortable dist ...

, where the state highway heads southeast as Tusculum Bypass then as Erwin Highway and passes

Tusculum University Tusculum University is a Private university, private Presbyterian Church (USA), Presbyterian university with its main campus in Tusculum, Tennessee. It is Tennessee's first university and the 28th-oldest operating college or university in the ...

. US 11E and US 321 head northeast and cross over the rail line at Afton. The two highways intersect SR 351 (Rheatown Road) north of the community of Chuckey. The U.S. Highways also pass to the north of David Crockett Birthplace State Park before entering Washington County, where the highways pass along the north edge of

Limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

, meet the south end of SR 75 (Opie Arnold Road), and cross Big Limestone Creek. US 11E and US 321 intersect SR 81 (College Street) and SR 354 (Boones Creek Road) on the west and east sides, respectively, of the town of Jonesborough. The U.S. Highways enter the city of Johnson City at their crossing of a north–south rail line. Just east of the downtown, where US 11E becomes Market Street, US 321 turns south onto State of Franklin Road, a western boulevard bypass of Johnson City that heads north as SR 381. US 11E passes to the north of Mountain Home, the site of several hospitals, including a VA medical center. East of University Parkway, which serves the campus of

East Tennessee State University East Tennessee State University (ETSU) is a public research university in Johnson City, Tennessee. It was historically part of the State University and Community College System of Tennessee under the Tennessee Board of Regents, but since 2016, ...

, the U.S. Highway curves north while SR 91 continues east along the

one-way pair A one-way pair, one-way couple, or couplet refers to that portion of a bi-directional traffic facilitysuch as a road, bus, streetcar, or light rail linewhere its opposing flows exist as two independent and roughly parallel facilities. Descriptio ...

of Main and Market streets to serve downtown Johnson City.

Johnson City to Bristol

US 11E heads north past

Science Hill High School Science Hill High School is a public high school in Johnson City, Tennessee, United States. Campus The Science Hill/ Liberty Bell/ Freedom Hall complex includes multiple athletic fields, large parking lots, and a -mile walking track that encircle ...

to Roan Street, the main north–south street of downtown Johnson City that the U.S. Highway joins. The highway passes the Mall at Johnson City and meets I-26 and US 23 at a partial cloverleaf interchange. US 19W joins US 11E at the interchange; when Roan Street continues north as SR 36, the two U.S. Highways curve northeast as Bristol Highway, which meets the northern end of SR 381 (State of Franklin Road) at an interchange. The highways head northeast and cross the

Watauga River The Watauga River () is a large stream of western North Carolina and East Tennessee. It is long with its headwaters in Linville Gap to the South Fork Holston River at Boone Lake. Course The Watauga River rises from a spring located south to ...

arm of

Boone Lake Boone Lake is a reservoir in Sullivan and Washington counties in northeastern Tennessee, formed by the impoundment of the South Fork Holston River and Watauga River behind Boone Dam.Sullivan County. In the town of Bluff City, US 11E and US 19W curve north while SR 44 (Bluff City Highway) continues north into downtown Bluff City. Just north of SR 44, the U.S. highways meet the northern end of US 19E; US 11E continues north concurrent with mainline US 19 and crosses the South Fork Holston River. US 11E and US 19 have a diamond interchange with SR 394 just west of the state highway's junction with SR 390 (Bluff City Highway). The U.S. Highways cross Beaver Creek adjacent to

Bristol Motor Speedway Bristol Motor Speedway (formerly known as the Bristol International Raceway from 1978 to 1996 and as the Bristol International Speedway from 1961 to 1978) is a oval Oval track racing#Short track, short track in Bristol, Tennessee. The track ha ...

and follow the stream's valley between the Whitetop Knobs to the east and the Beaver Creek Knobs to the west. US 11E and US 19 enter the city of Bristol and follow Volunteer Parkway to the Tennessee–Virginia state line. State Street, which heads west as SR 1, follows the boundary and serves as the main street of both cities Bristol. The two U.S. Highways and State Route 381 (SR 381) head north into the

independent city An independent city or independent town is a city or town that does not form part of another general-purpose local government entity (such as a province). Historical precursors In the Holy Roman Empire, and to a degree in its successor states ...

of Bristol along Commonwealth Avenue, a four-lane divided highway that intersects Goode Street one block north of the state line; Goode Street carries US 421 and both US 11 Truck and US 19 Truck through the Bristol Commercial Historic District. US 11E, US 19, US 421, and SR 381 meet the southern end of SR 113 at separate intersections: Cumberland Street carries northbound SR 113 east and Sycamore Street carries the westbound direction. The four highways continue north to east–west Euclid Avenue, where US 11E has its northern terminus. SR 381 continues north along Commonwealth Avenue to the southern end of I-381, a spur south from I-81. Westbound Euclid Avenue heads west carrying northbound US 421 and southbound US 11W. At this intersection, US 11E and US 11W come together to form mainline US 11, which follows eastbound Euclid Avenue with northbound US 19.

History

US 11E roughly follows the corridor of a series of Native American trails that existed in the region prior to the settlement of Tennessee by

European Americans European Americans are Americans of European ancestry. This term includes both people who descend from the first European settlers in the area of the present-day United States and people who descend from more recent European arrivals. Since th ...

. Some of these trails were part of the

Great Indian Warpath The Great Indian Warpath (GIW)—also known as the Great Indian War and Trading Path, or the Seneca Trail—was part of the network of trails in eastern North America developed and used by Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans w ...

, with the main route of this path being traveled by what is now US 11W. The US 11E corridor reportedly follows a lesser used trail that became part of the

Great Wagon Road The Great Wagon Road, also known as the Philadelphia Wagon Road, is a historic trail in the eastern United States that was first traveled by indigenous tribes, and later explorers, settlers, soldiers, and travelers. It extended from British Penn ...

, also known as the Great Valley Road, in the latter 18th century. This route, along with the Warpath, were widely used by early explorers and settlers of the region. On October 1, 1923, the route was designated as SR 34, of the first state routes in Tennessee. When the

United States Numbered Highway System 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 ...

was formed by Congress in 1926, SR 34 was designated as US 511, and the route to the west became

US 11 U.S. Route 11 or U.S. Highway 11 (US 11) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway extending across the eastern U.S. The southern terminus of the route is at US 90 in Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refu ...

. Tennessee officials objected to this numbering scheme, and in 1929 successfully petitioned the

American Association of State Highway Officials The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) is a standards setting body which publishes specifications, test protocols, and guidelines that are used in highway design and construction throughout the United St ...

(AASHO) to redesignate US 11 as US 11W and US 511 as US 11E in an event that came to be known as "The Tennessee Split". In the 1940s, planners chose to route the freeway that became

roughly along the US 11E and 11W corridors. Throughout the latter 20th century, most of US 11E was widened to four lanes, and much of the original alignment was relocated in favor of bypasses around

business district Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or buying and selling products (such as goods and services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for profit." A business entity is not necessar ...

s of cities and towns. Work on the four-lane relocation around Bluff City between south of the split with US 19W/SR 44 and near the Bristol Motor Speedway, referred to at the time as the Bluff City Bypass, began on May 19, 1973, and after multiple delays, opened to traffic on April 29, 1976. The stretch between the Greene-Washington County line and Jonesborough was widened between the summer of 1987 and November 1988.

Major intersections

Greeneville business route

U.S. Route 11E Business (US 11E Bus.) is a

business route A business route (or business loop, business spur, or city route) in the United States is a short special route that branches off a parent numbered highway at its beginning, continues through the central business district of a nearby city or to ...

of US 11E in Greeneville, Tennessee. The highway runs between junctions with US 11E on the west and east sides of Greeneville. US 11E Bus. begins at a partial cloverleaf interchange with US 11E (Andrew Johnson Highway) and SR 70. East of where SR 70 splits to the south, the business route enters the town as Summer Street. In the downtown area, US 11E Bus. turns north onto Main Street, joining US 321 and SR 107. The business route and SR 107 turn east onto Tusculum Boulevard, which they follow out of the downtown area and pass through a heavily congested area (they also pass

Walters State Community College Walters State Community College (abbreviated as WSCC, and commonly known as Walters State) is a public community college based in Morristown, Tennessee. It was founded in 1970 and is operated by the Tennessee Board of Regents. The college wa ...

's Greeneville campus and Greeneville High School) to the business route's eastern terminus at US 11E.

References

External links

Virginia Highways Project: US 11EUS 11E in VA at AARoads
{{DEFAULTSORT:U.S. Route 11e 11 E 11 E 11 E U.S. Route 011E Transportation in Sullivan County, Tennessee Transportation in Washington County, Tennessee Transportation in Greene County, Tennessee Transportation in Hawkins County, Tennessee Transportation in Hamblen County, Tennessee Transportation in Jefferson County, Tennessee Transportation in Knox County, Tennessee E Transportation in Knoxville, Tennessee