Interstate 26

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Interstate 26 Primary Interstate Length: 344 mi (557 km) Major cities/towns: Kingsport, TN Johnson City, TN Asheville, NC Spartanburg, SC Columbia, SC Charleston, SC Established: {{{year_established}}} Direction: East-West Western Terminus: Kingsport, Tennessee Eastern Terminus: Charleston, South Carolina States traversed: Tennessee North Carolina South Carolina INTERSTATE JUNCTIONS JUNCTION EXIT # Legend   deleted (no longer in system)   unconstructed   closed   crossing with no access   begin/end concurrency, bold route is carried through   a bold route on white background indicates termini. BROWSE STATE HWYS Prev Next

Interstate 26 (abbreviated I-26) is an interstate highway in the southeastern United States. It goes from Kingsport, Tennessee at the Tennessee-Virginia border to Charleston, South Carolina at the Septima Clark Expressway. The section from Asheville to Colonial Heights was opened in September 2003, and included half of Interstate 181 from Colonial Heights to Johnson City, Tennessee, and the western half of Interstate 240 in Asheville. The State of Tennessee had wanted to rename all of I-181, and in August 2005 achieved their goal with a bill in the United States Senate by Tennessee Senator and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. The highway now includes all of the former Interstate 181 through Tennessee.

Like U.S. Highway 52 before it, Interstate 26 runs northwest-southeast. Unlike US 52, I-26 goes directly northwest from Charleston, rather than jogging around.

Contents 1 Length 2 Intersections with other Interstates 3 3di Routes 4 Notes 5 Reference

Length

Miles	km	state
46	75	Tennessee
77	125	North Carolina
221	358	South Carolina
344	557	Total

Intersections with other Interstates

• Interstate 81 in Colonial Heights, Tennessee
• Interstate 40 in Asheville, North Carolina
• Interstate 85 in Spartanburg, South Carolina
• Interstate 20 in Columbia, South Carolina
• Interstate 77 in Columbia, South Carolina
• Interstate 95 near Harleyville, South Carolina (Map)

3di Routes

	edit Three-digit Interstates from Interstate 26
I-126	South Carolina
I-526	South Carolina
future	I-426: South Carolina

Notes

This is a diagonal Interstate that goes northwest-to-southeast, even though it is signed west-to-east. With the recent extensions, it actually goes much further north and south than east and west, however there are no real logical north-south numbers available.

Because of the awkward numbering, the mile-log numbers for each exit were increased by 30 or 31 in North Carolina. Small green signs attached to the top of the large green signs indicate what the old number was. Oddly, the part that it shares with I-240 has not had the numbers changed yet, as of September 2004, a year after the opening, although most of the markers now indicate I-26 instead of I-240.

The old divided highway which makes up the southern half of the extension is marked with an extra FUTURE sign above (and in the same style as) the EAST and WEST signs, probably indicating that it has not yet been upgraded to full AASHTO standards for Interstate highways. Shoulders remain substandard or nonexistant along short sections of the route.

Exit numbers in Tennessee are numbered backwards, going from east to west. This exit numbering will eventually flip-flop to the correct way sometime in 2005 or 2006. The major roadblock preventing this flip-flop was the I-181 issue. With the issue resolved the change will likely come soon. However, this is not the first precedent in North America for backwards exit numbering - another example is Highway 417 in Ontario, Canada.

Some have called for an extension of I-26 northward across the Virginia state line to meet up with a potential I-66 extension in Kentucky, however that is not on the immediate plans. It would continue to follow Corridor B of the Appalachian Development Highway System.

Reference

• 2005 Rand McNally "The Road Atlas 2005" - newest feature- interstate mileage by state

edit Primary Interstate Highways
4	5	8	10	12	15	16	17
19	20	22	24	25	26	27	29
30	35	37	39	40	43	44	45
49	55	57	59	64	65	66	68
69	70	71	72	73	74	75	76 (W)
76 (E)	77	78	79	80	81	82	83
84 (W)	84 (E)	85	86 (W)	86 (E)	87	88 (W)	88 (E)
89	90	91	93	94	95	96	97
99	238	H-1	H-2	H-3
Unsigned Interstate Highways
A-1	A-2	A-3	A-4	PRI-1	PRI-2	PRI-3
Lists Two-digit Interstates - Three-digit Interstates Gaps in Interstates - Intrastate Interstates Interstate standards - Proposed Interstates