Great Smoky Mountains Expressway

[Bryant5493]

Does anyone have any photos/videoes of the Great Smoky Mountains Expressway? I've not been on that expressway in quite sometime. (The last time that I went, my family and I went to Harrah's in Cherokee, NC.) I also like the merging of expressway and freeway up there, as well as on US 23 north of Gainesville, GA.


Be well,

Bryant

[Alex]

Carter Buchanan photographed it in 2004:
Some eastbound photos are found here
and westbound here

[Bryant5493]

Thanks, aaroads and froggie, I greatly appreciate it.


Be well,

Bryant

[freebrickproductions]

7 year old thread!
Also, I didn't know about this road. I might check it out sometime.

[WashuOtaku]

7 year old thread!
Also, I didn't know about this road. I might check it out sometime.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Smoky_Mountains_Expressway

[OracleUsr]

Signage on parts of it have been upgraded to more modern specs (raised caps and reflective sheeting, specifically).

[rickmastfan67]

iBallasticwolf2, please don't 'bump' a 6 year old thread to say just 'Fascinating'.  It is frowned upon when you do something like that and don't add anything meaningful to the thread.

[hbelkins]

I have several photos of the route online. Check them out if you want.

Didn't US 19A in this area go away when US 74 was extended across the freeway, and US 19 was put on the route through Cherokee to replace 19A?

[WashuOtaku]

I have several photos of the route online. Check them out if you want.

Didn't US 19A in this area go away when US 74 was extended across the freeway, and US 19 was put on the route through Cherokee to replace 19A?

US 74 replaced US 19A in 1987.  US 19 current route in the area is the original route.  In 1947, the route became US 19A and US 19 was routed through Dillsboro; but then they switched it a year later putting US 19 back on its original route through Cherokee and US 19A through Dillsboro.

[Mapmikey]

Technically, US 74 was added to GSM Frwy in June 1986 (https://connect.ncdot.gov/resources/safety/Route%20Changes/1986_06_24.pdf).  US 19 Bypass was removed from the GSM Expwy in June 1987 (https://connect.ncdot.gov/resources/safety/Route%20Changes/1987_06_15.pdf).  There is no document on NCDOT's website changing US 19 ALT to US 19 Bypass although official NC maps showed it as 19 Byp starting 1984.

Mike

[WashuOtaku]

Technically, US 74 was added to GSM Frwy in June 1986 (https://connect.ncdot.gov/resources/safety/Route%20Changes/1986_06_24.pdf).  US 19 Bypass was removed from the GSM Expwy in June 1987 (https://connect.ncdot.gov/resources/safety/Route%20Changes/1987_06_15.pdf).  There is no document on NCDOT's website changing US 19 ALT to US 19 Bypass although official NC maps showed it as 19 Byp starting 1984.

Mike

I know, but been in that area in the mid-80s, they never signed the section as US 19 Bypass, which existed between 1983-1987.  Even when I went to college there, US 19A signs were still found on some locations of the route up through the late '90s.  So on paper, for four years, it was a bypass.

1982 Withdrawn Request to move US 19 through Dillsboro:  https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/AASHTO_USRN_1982-06-28.pdf
1983 Re-designation of US 19A to US 19 Bypass:  https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/AASHTO_USRN_1983-06-20.pdf
1987 Eliminate US 19 Bypass:  https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/AASHTO_USRN_1987-05-25.pdf

[Mapmikey]

Thanks...

My experience with the GSM Expwy didn't come until 1988 and later, so I never saw how it was posted 19A or 19 Byp...

Mike

[Mileage Mike]

I drove it for the first time a couple months ago. It's a beautiful route.  If you ever get to check it out you should continue down 74 when it narrows to 2 lanes in Nantahala.  US 19 is also duplexed with 74 but I don't think it was signed anywhere along the route.

[WashuOtaku]

I drove it for the first time a couple months ago. It's a beautiful route.  If you ever get to check it out you should continue down 74 when it narrows to 2 lanes in Nantahala.  US 19 is also duplexed with 74 but I don't think it was signed anywhere along the route.

NC 28, at Almond, is where US 74 will eventually be rerouted onto, while US 19 will continue through the Nantahala. US 74 will follow NC 28 (which is four-lane) to Stecoah onto new expressway through Cheoah to Robbinsville, then route south on new expressway to Andrews and rejoin US 19.  This is would then complete Corridor K of the Appalachian Development Highway System (marked with the Appalachian Highway signs on route).  Cannot say if it will be an extension of the Great Smoky Mountains Expressway, but it will complete a four-lane highway from TN/NC line to I-40.

[codyg1985]

This is would then complete Corridor K of the Appalachian Development Highway System (marked with the Appalachian Highway signs on route)

There is also the remaining problem of the Ocoee River Gorge bypass for US 64/74 in Tennessee in Polk County that also needs to be addressed. It will probably happen around the same time as the Nantahala Gorge bypass.

[WashuOtaku]

This is would then complete Corridor K of the Appalachian Development Highway System (marked with the Appalachian Highway signs on route)

There is also the remaining problem of the Ocoee River Gorge bypass for US 64/74 in Tennessee in Polk County that also needs to be addressed. It will probably happen around the same time as the Nantahala Gorge bypass.

Opps, forgot Tennessee... yea, that is also taking its time, but mostly more because of the environmental impact than cost.  The state is now showing how crazy expensive it is to build tunnels and such so they can build what they want.  North Carolina, on the other hand, is more on the cost because the fund only covers so much.