U.S. Route 25E
U.S. Route 25E is the eastern branch of US 25 from Newport, Tennessee, where US 25 splits into US 25E and US 25W, to North Corbin, Kentucky, where the two highways rejoin. The highway, however, continues as US 25E for roughly until it joins Interstate 75 in the Laurel County community of North Corbin at exit 29. The highway serves the Appalachia regions of Kentucky's Cumberland Plateau and the Ridge-and-Valley section of East Tennessee, including the urbanized areas of Corbin and Middlesboro in Kentucky and Morristown in Tennessee.
US 25E follows the original pathway of early U.S. pioneer Daniel Boone's Wilderness Road, which contributed to the increased settlement of Appalachia given its access through the rugged Cumberland Gap. By 1815, the route became the first state-funded road in Tennessee and, in 1923, unsigned State Route 32 in the Tennessee State Route System in its statewide entirety. It would be recognized as part of the Dixie Highway, one of the earliest federal auto trails, in 1915. The route was officially established as US 25E with the creation of the U.S. Numbered Highway System in 1926.
By 1965, economic conditions in Appalachia remained dire, and the formation of the Appalachian Regional Commission provided new incentive for US 25E as part of the Appalachian Development Highway System, designated as Corridor S in Tennessee and partially as Corridor F in both Tennessee and Kentucky. Corridor S follows US 25E between I-81 in Morristown to SR 63 in Harrogate, and Corridor F follows the route from SR 63 to US 119 in Pineville. With its role in the ADHS, US 25E was planned for improvements as a regional limited-access highway between I-75 and I-81.
Initial construction work began in both states around the 1960s and 1970s but was accelerated in the 1980s and 1990s with additional federal funding for the section of US 25E between I-75 and I-81 with its designation as a federal truck route in the Federal Highway Administration 's National Network by 1982 and as High-Priority Corridor 12 of the National Highway System by Congress in 1991 with the passing of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act. In 1996, the highway received national recognition with its realignment under the Cumberland Gap with the large-scale Cumberland Gap Tunnel project. Considered a civil engineering achievement, the tunnel is one of two in the entire U.S. that crosses state lines under a mountain.
US 25E serves as an arterial expressway for long-distance travelers and truckers connecting central Appalachia to the Great Lakes and Eastern Seaboard regions of the U.S. via access to I-75, I-81, and proximity to I-26 and I-40. Since the completion of the Cumberland Gap Tunnel in 1996, upgrades to freeway-grade standards have been planned and constructed for US 25E in both states to improve regional freight movement.
In 2009, all of US 25E in Tennessee, along with US 25 from Newport to the North Carolina state line, was designated as the East Tennessee Crossing Byway, a National Scenic Byway.
Route description
US 25E is maintained by the Tennessee Department of Transportation and the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet in the sections located in their respective states. Both states also have access to federal funding through the FHWA and ARC, given US 25E's designation as High-Priority Corridor 12 from its terminus at I-75 in North Corbin, Kentucky, to I-81 in Morristown, Tennessee, and Appalachian Highway corridors F in Kentucky and Tennessee and S in Tennessee, respectively. In addition, the FHWA contracts the maintenance and operations of US 25E in the Cumberland Gap Tunnel to Tunnel Management, Inc., a subsidiary of Vaughn and Melton Consulting Engineers.Tennessee
French Broad River region
US 25E begins in the western portion of the city of Newport in Cocke County where it forks at the signalized northern terminus of US 25 alongside US 25W/US 70. Northbound US 25 and westbound US 70 leave Newport toward Dandridge concurrent with one another. From Newport, US 25E continues as two-lane primary highway, meets the under-construction Newport Bypass, and enters unincorporated Cocke County through a rugged forested area near the community of Gum Spring approaching the Douglas Lake impoundment of the French Broad River. After briefly paralleling the eastern shoreline of the French Broad River at Webb Hollow, US 25E exits Cocke County as it crosses over the French Broad at the concrete bulb-T beam J.M. Walters Bridge at the McNabb Bluff rock ledge.US 25E then enters Jefferson County northeast of the resort city of Baneberry, through a rural rolling corridor in the unincorporated community of Leadvale before entering the town limits of White Pine at SR 341. In the town of White Pine, US 25E becomes State Street, the main thoroughfare in the town providing access to the town's residential areas and central business district. Exiting White Pine at Walnut Street, US 25E passes through farmland and connects to Walters State Community College 's Great Smoky Mountains Expo Center approaching I-81 at exit 8 near the Jefferson–Hamblen county line.
Morristown–Bean Station region
Entering Hamblen County, US 25E widens to a four-lane divided expressway at I-81 exit 8 and is designated ADHS Corridor S and the Davy Crockett Parkway. US 25E then enters the southernmost city limits of Morristown near the East Tennessee Progress Center industrial park at a signalized intersection. It passes through a highway exit-oriented commercialized corridor in the neighborhood of Witt, passing by Witt Elementary School and intersecting SR 343, a former alignment of US 25E. North of SR 343, US 25E traverses a rural commercial area and meets the western terminus of SR 113. US 25E ascends the forested Bays Mountain ridge and becomes a freeway. It meets SR 160, a southern bypass route of Morristown at a partial cloverleaf interchange. US 25E then enters the central business district of Morristown, first accessing WSCC and College Square Mall at a split-single-point urban interchange at Walters State Community College Drive and Crockett Square Drive. Northbound, US 25E meets US 11E at its first partial cloverleaf interchange, sharing a brief concurrency with US 11E, until meeting another partial cloverleaf interchange where US 11E splits and heads eastbound as Andrew Johnson Highway. North of this interchange, US 25E downgrades to a limited-access four-lane highway along another exurban commercial corridor as it approaches the Hamblen–Grainger county line at the Cherokee Lake impoundment of the Holston River. Before exiting Morristown, US 25E has an incomplete interchange with SR 343 and signalized intersection at Cherokee Park Road, a local collector road to SR 343.US 25E then crosses the Holston River at the steel stringer beam Olen R. Marshall Memorial Bridge, becoming Appalachian Highway. After this crossing, US 25E enters the town of Bean Station in Grainger County, passing by tourist-based commercial development along a peninsula on the Cherokee Reservoir shoreline near Johnson Ridge. Exiting the tourist area on a rock-fill embankment surrounded by the Cherokee Reservoir shoreline, the highway traverses Collins Ridge, passing by the Crosby Pothole Nature Refuge and is surrounded by Cherokee Reservoir on another rock-fill embankment, before approaching the restricted junctions of Broadway Drive, an old alignment of US 25E, and the northern terminus of SR 375. North of SR 375, US 25E becomes a freeway on a rock cut atop the Richland Knobs' Big Ridge, bypassing Bean Station's central business district to the west. Descending from the Big Ridge rock cut, US 25E meets US 11W at a trumpet interchange, beginning a short westbound concurrency with US 11W. US 25E/US 11W continues northwest, downgrading to a limited-access highway through a minor commercial district on its north and an impounded German Creek on its south in west Bean Station. west of Bean Station at its town limits near Briar Fork Creek, US 25E splits from US 11W at an incomplete semi-directional T interchange near the southern base of Clinch Mountain, as US 11W heads westbound along the Richland Valley toward Knoxville. US 25E travels northbound through the Poor Valley ridge and ascends the southern slope of Clinch Mountain through a shale rock cut.
Clinch Mountain–Cumberland Gap region
US 25E then ascends northbound toward Bean Gap on top of Clinch Mountain, providing access to a scenic overlook of the Clinch Mountain valley, and then descends down the northern slope of Clinch Mountain, where it meets SR 131 at a restricted-offset intersection in the unincorporated community of Thorn Hill. North of Thorn Hill, US 25E traverses through the rugged forested Copper Ridge and Broken Valley area, passing by natural water springs and the former Imperial Tennessee marble quarry; approaching the pre-stressed box girder Indian Creek bridge. After crossing Indian Creek, US 25E enters the Dry Valley region adjacent to the Clinch River. US 25E briefly parallels the Clinch River on its west side and the Dry Valley rock bluff on its east before crossing the river once again at the Grainger–Claiborne county border via a multi-beam girder bridge.Entering Claiborne County, US 25E winds through the forested and mountainous Caney Valley region and crosses the Norris Lake impoundment of Big Sycamore Creek on a stringer bridge. North of Big Sycamore Creek, US 25E has an intersection with eastbound SR 33, beginning a brief concurrency northbound toward the town of Tazewell. US 25E/SR 33 exits the Caney Valley region and enters the rural unincorporated community of Springdale, crossing over Little Sycamore Creek and passing by Springdale Elementary School and the Tazewell–Claiborne County Airport. North of Springdale, US 25E then ascends up Wallen Ridge passing by farmland and crosses over an old alignment of the road. After the overpass, the highway enters the southernmost town limits of Tazewell with access to Claiborne County High School but follows a J-shaped bypass around town's central business district. At the terminus of the bypass, US 25E splits from SR 33 in which the latter heads west toward Maynardville. US 25E heads north and immediately intersects SR 345 at its signalized eastern terminus. North of SR 345, US 25E follows a rural and commercialized corridor before exiting the northern city limits of Tazewell and enters a rugged rural corridor. It goes through a rock cut at Pine Hill, approaching the Powell River.
US 25E then immediately enters the southern city limits of Harrogate after crossing the Powell River on a girder bridge, picking up the Cumberland Gap Parkway designation. In Harrogate, US 25E passes through another rock cut near the Powell River State Natural Reserve on the northern side of the Powell River. The highway intersects Patterson Road, an old alignment of US 25E. North of Patterson Road, US 25E traverses a rural-forested corridor, passing by TDOT's Claiborne County garage. It meets eastbound SR 63 at a signalized and commercialized intersection, beginning a minor concurrency along a commercial corridor before meeting westbound SR 63 at another traffic signal near the corner of Lincoln Memorial University 's campus and Harrogate City Park. North of the western SR 63 junction, US 25E remains adjacent to LMU's campus on the west, and Harrogate's central business district on the east with two signalized entrances to LMU. Exiting Harrogate, US 25E enters the town limits of Cumberland Gap and upgrades to a freeway at the base of the Cumberland Mountains. It then encounters the western terminus of US 58 at a trumpet interchange and begins its approach to the Cumberland Gap Tunnel at the base of the Cumberland Gap. Before entering the tunnel, US 25E overpasses Tiprell Road and the Knoxville Cumberland Gap Railroad. Entering the Cumberland Gap Tunnel, US 25E crosses the Tennessee–Kentucky state line near the tunnel's midway point and exits Tennessee as a four-lane freeway.