U.S. Route 31W (US 31W) is the westernmost of two parallel routes for

U.S. Route 31 U.S. Route 31 or U.S. Highway 31 (US 31) is a major north–south U.S. highway connecting southern Alabama to northern Michigan. Its southern terminus is at an intersection with US 90/ US 98 in Spanish Fort, Alabama. I ...

from

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

. During the December 2021 tornado outbreak, an EF3 tornado devastated stretches of US 31W in

Bowling Green, Kentucky Bowling Green is a city in Warren County, Kentucky, United States, and its county seat. Its population was 72,294 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Kentucky, third-most populous city in the stat ...

Route description

Tennessee

US 31W begins in

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, at an

interchange 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 ...

with Ellington Parkway and US 31 and US 31E. The route continues west as Spring Street, concurrent with US 41/ US 431/ SR 11. The four highways continue north onto Dickerson Pike, closely paralleling Interstate 24 (I-24) through Nashville. US 431 turns onto Trinity Lane, while US 31W, US 41 and SR 11 continue north, away from I-24. The roadway has an interchange with

I-65 Interstate 65 (I-65) is a major north–south interstate highway in the central United States. As with most primary interstates ending in 5, it is a major crosscountry, north–south route, connecting between the Great Lakes and the Gulf ...

and SR 155 (Briley Parkway) before an intersection with SR 45 in Bellshire Terrace. The highway passes through

Goodlettsville Goodlettsville is a city in Davidson and Sumner Counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It was incorporated as a city in 1958 with a population of just over 3,000 residents; in 2020, its population was 17,789. It is part of the Nashville metropo ...

, where US 31W splits from US 41/SR 11, and crosses I-65; it also passes through the cities of Millersville,

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

, and the western edge of

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

. Before it enters Kentucky, it junctions the recently rerouted SR 109. From Millersville to the Kentucky state line, US 31W/SR 41 also marks the boundary between

Robertson Robertson may refer to: People * Robertson (surname) (includes a list of people with this name) * Robertson (given name) * Clan Robertson, a Scottish clan * Robertson, stage name of Belgian magician Étienne-Gaspard Robert (1763–1837) Plac ...

and

Sumner Sumner may refer to: Places Antarctica * Mount Sumner, a mountain in the Rare Range, Antarctica * Sumner Glacier, southern Graham Land, Antarctica Australia * Sumner, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane New Zealand * Sumner, New Zealand, a seasi ...

Counties.

Kentucky

The highway enters the state of Kentucky and crosses

for a third time, where it passes through

Franklin Franklin may refer to: People and characters * Franklin (given name), including list of people and characters with the name * Franklin (surname), including list of people and characters with the name * Franklin (class), a member of a historic ...

and intersects KY 100. From here, the highway is known as Bowling Green Road, which becomes Nashville Road once it enters Warren County, and passes through fields, as well as giving access to the towns of Woodburn and

Rich Pond Rich may refer to: Common uses * Rich, an entity possessing wealth * Rich, an intense flavor, color, sound, texture, or feeling ** Rich (wine), a descriptor in wine tasting Places United States * Rich, Mississippi, an unincorporated commu ...

. Entering the city of

Bowling Green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep ...

, the route intersects Interstate 165 (I-165, formerly the William H. Natcher Parkway) as well as US 231 as the route bypasses downtown Bowling Green. On the eastern side of town, Louisville Road carries US 31W, US 68, and KY 80 east and then northeast, where US 68 and KY 80 split off to the east just east of Bristow. US 31W passes within of an entrance to

Mammoth Cave National Park Mammoth Cave National Park is a national park of the United States in south-central Kentucky. It encompasses portions of Mammoth Cave, the longest known cave system in the world. The park's are located primarily in Edmonson County, with sma ...

near Park City, after crossing I-65 again, this time without direct access to the freeway. The highway travels through Cave City as Duke Highway while crossing two major state routes, KY 90 in the southern outskirts, and then KY 70 in downtown. Once it enters Hart County going north, US 31W is locally known as

Dixie Highway Dixie Highway was a United States auto trail first planned in 1914 to connect the Midwest with the South. It was part of a system and was expanded from an earlier Miami to Montreal highway. The final system is better understood as a network o ...

for the remainder of its course. In the city of Horse Cave, US 31W intersects KY 218; and then continues on to Munfordville before crossing I-65 for a fifth time at the interstate's exit 65 interchange, and paralleling it closely to the west and later, the east. Between Upton and Sonora, it crosses over I-65 for a sixth time. In Elizabethtown, US 31W intersects with the Wendell H. Ford Western Kentucky Parkway before crossing I-65 for a seventh and final time. The route continues through the heart of Elizabethtown, intersecting US 62, before it goes on to enter Radcliff. It also passes through

Fort Knox Fort Knox is a United States Army installation in Kentucky, south of Louisville and north of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Elizabethtown. It is adjacent to the United States Bullion Depository (also known as Fort Knox), which is used to house a larg ...

near Radcliff, within sight of the

United States Bullion Depository The United States Bullion Depository, often known as Fort Knox, is a fortified bank vault, vault building located next to the United States Army post of Fort Knox, Kentucky. It is operated by the United States Department of the Treasury. The v ...

. US 31W overlaps with US 60 from Muldraugh to

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

, paralleling the

Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...

briefly before an interchange with I-264 (Watterson Expressway) in Louisville's southwestern suburbs. US 31W continues as a

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 ...

consisting of 22nd and Dr. W. J. Hodges streets, and later Main and Market streets in downtown Louisville. At 2nd Street, US 31W ends at US 31E, and the two routes continue north as US 31 before crossing the Ohio River into Jeffersonville, in

Clark County Clark County may refer to: *Clark County, Arkansas *Clark County, Idaho *Clark County, Illinois *Clark County, Indiana *Clark County, Kansas *Clark County, Kentucky *Clark County, Missouri *Clark County, Nevada, containing Las Vegas *Clark County, ...

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

on the George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge.

History

Most of US 31W's current route was part of the old

from the

National Auto Trail The system of auto trails was an informal network of marked routes that existed in the United States and Canada in the early part of the 20th century. Marked with colored bands on utility poles, the trails were intended to help travellers in t ...

program, the predecessor to the

United States Numbered Highways 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 ...

system. Many of the cities through which US 31W traverses still give it a local street name of "Dixie Highway" or "Dixie Avenue." Some portions date back further, to the Louisville and Nashville Turnpike, which began construction in the 1830s. Until 1926, the route in Tennessee from US 41E to the Kentucky state line was signed as State Route 79 (SR 79); it was resigned as SR 41 until the US 31W designation was established in 1931, but the SR 41 remaining as an unsigned, hidden route. The route from the state line northward to US 68 in Bowling Green was signed as Kentucky Route 73 from 1929 until 1931, when the US 31W designation was established.

US 31W in Indiana

US 31W once terminated in

Sellersburg, Indiana Sellersburg is a town located within Silver Creek and Carr Townships, Clark County, Indiana, United States. It had a population of 9,310 at the time of the 2020 census. Sellersburg is located along Interstate 65, about 15 minutes north of Loui ...

. It went into

New Albany, Indiana New Albany is a city in New Albany Township, Floyd County, Indiana, United States, situated along the Ohio River, opposite Louisville, Kentucky. The population was 37,841 as of the 2020 census. The city is the county seat of Floyd County. It ...

, crossing the Kentucky & Indiana Terminal Bridge into Louisville, concurrent with

U.S. Route 150 U.S. Route 150 (US 150) is a 571-mile (919 km) long northwest–southeast United States highway, signed as east–west. It runs from U.S. Route 6 outside of Moline, Illinois, to U.S. Route 25 in Mount Vernon, Kentucky. Route descripti ...

. When the K&I Terminal Bridge was closed to traffic in 1979, US 31W and US 150 were rerouted onto the

Sherman Minton Bridge The Sherman Minton Bridge is a double-deck through arch bridge spanning the Ohio River, carrying I-64 and US 150 over the river between Kentucky and Indiana. The bridge connects the west side of Louisville, Kentucky to downtown New Albany, In ...

, being concurrent with

Interstate 64 Interstate 64 (I-64) is an east–west Interstate Highway in the Eastern United States. Its western terminus is at Interstate 70, I-70, U.S. Route 40 (US 40), and U.S. Route 61, US 61 in Wentzville, Missouri. Its eastern ter ...

until Exit 121. In 1980, AASHTO truncated both termini of US 31E and US 31W to Louisville. In

, US 31W was replaced by SR 311.

31W Treasure Hunt

The 31W Treasure Hunt is an outdoor

second-hand Used goods, also known as secondhand goods, are any item of personal property that have been previously owned by someone else and are offered for sale not as new, including metals in any form except coins that are legal tender. Used goods may ...

sale held annually for three days beginning the second Thursday in September. It takes place along the alignment of U.S. Route 31W in its entirety from Nashville to Louisville.

Major intersections

Related routes

Tennessee State Route 41

State Route 41 (SR 41) runs as a secret, or hidden designation, throughout US 31W's routing from the US 41 (SR 11) junction in

to the SR 259 junction at the

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

state line near Mitchellville.

Bowling Green bypass

From the 1950s to the 1980s, a bypass route of US 31W ran around Bowling Green, Kentucky. It was replaced by rerouting US 31W onto the bypass.

Elizabethtown bypass

U.S. Route 31W By-Pass is a four-lane expressway in

Elizabethtown, Kentucky Elizabethtown is a home rule-class city in Hardin County, Kentucky, United States, and its county seat. The population was 31,394 at the 2020 census, making it the ninth-most populous city in the state. It is the principal city of the Elizab ...

. It starts at an at-grade intersection with Kentucky Route 1136, bypasses the west side of town and it ends at another at-grade intersection with US 31W on the northern side of Elizabethtown. The southern end can be reached via either KY 1136 on the south side, or following the Western Kentucky Parkway from the at-grade intersection with US 31W/KY 61to the interchange after the WK Parkway/

junction. Major intersections include: * Kentucky Route 1136 (Glendale Road) *

Western Kentucky Parkway The Wendell H. Ford Western Kentucky Parkway is a controlled-access highway, freeway running from Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Elizabethtown to near Nortonville, Kentucky. It intersects with Interstate 65 in Kentucky, Interstate 65 (I-65) at its e ...

(exit 135) * U.S. Route 62 (Leitchfield Road) * Kentucky Route 361 (Patriot Parkway) *U.S. Route 31W (Dixie Highway)

Elizabethtown Truck Route

U.S. Route 31W Truck is a truck route in Elizabethtown. Its component highways include the Wendell H. Ford Western Kentucky Parkway west from the US 31W/KY 61 junction to exit 135, and the final of the US 31W Bypass from the WK Parkway exit 135 interchange to US 31W on the north side of town.

West Point Business Route

U.S. Route 31W Business 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 ...

located in

West Point, Kentucky West Point is a home rule-class city in Hardin County, Kentucky, United States, near the edge of Fort Knox military reservation on Dixie Highway. It is located in a former meander bend of the Ohio River. The population was 952 as of the 202 ...

, in northern Hardin County. It is long and does not intersect any other highways outside of the main alignment of US 31W (which runs concurrently with

US 60 U.S. Route 60 is a major east–west United States highway, traveling from southwestern Arizona to the Atlantic Ocean coast in Virginia. The highway's eastern terminus is in Virginia Beach, Virginia, where it is known as General Booth Bouleva ...

in that area).

References

External links

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