Tennessee State Route 116
Route information | ||||
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Maintained by TDOT | ||||
Length | 41.97 mi (67.54 km) | |||
Major junctions | ||||
South end | SR 62 near Petros | |||
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North end | ||||
Location | ||||
Country | United States | |||
State | Tennessee | |||
Counties | Morgan, Anderson, Campbell | |||
Highway system | ||||
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State Route 116 (SR 116) is a 41.97-mile-long (67.54 km) north–south state highway in the mountains of East Tennessee. The highway runs from its junction with SR 62 at its southern end between Wartburg and Coalfield in Morgan County, to its northern end at Caryville, Tennessee in Campbell County.
Route description
From its southwestern terminus it heads northeast and passes through the town of Petros and past Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary.
Continuing northeast into
SR 116 briefly passes into Campbell County and then turns southeast back into Anderson County. From there it passes through the village of Stainville (more commonly known as Ligias Fork) and continues southeast through some remote, sparsely populated mountains (along a very long and steep mountain pass locally known as Graves Gap) to Laurel Grove. There it turns northeast again at the junction with Frost Bottom Road, since 1982 designated as SR 330. This section of the highway parallels Walden Ridge to the immediate southeast, and a former spur of the Norfolk Southern Railway (now closed), and passes through Briceville, Fraterville which was the site of a 1902 mine explosion, "The Wye" near the former mining camp of Beech Grove, and finally through a gap in Walden Ridge to enter Rocky Top.[1]
Originally the northeastern terminus of SR 116 was in Rocky Top at the junction with
Petros, Briceville, Rocky Top, and Caryville are the only towns of any sizeable population today along Route 116.
History
The highway has had a high rate of accidents, including fatal accidents, attributed to conditions including narrow
Junction list
County | Location | mi | km | Destinations | Notes | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Morgan | Joyner | 0.00 | 0.00 | SR 62 (Knoxville Highway) – Wartburg, Coalfield, Oliver Springs | Southern terminus | |||
Anderson |
No major junctions | |||||||
Campbell |
No major junctions | |||||||
Anderson | Laurel Grove | SR 330 south (Frost Bottom Road) – Oliver Springs | Northern terminus of SR 330; SR 116 becomes Fraterville Miners' Memorial Highway | |||||
Southern end of US 25W concurency | ||||||||
US 441 south (Norris Freeway/SR 71) – Norris Dam State Park, Norris | Northern terminus of US 441 | |||||||
Northern end of US 25W concurrency; I-75 exit 129 | ||||||||
Northern terminus | ||||||||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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References
- ^ Drash, Wayne. "Tennessee town's rocky road to becoming Rocky Top". www.cnn.com. Cable News Network. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
- ^ "TDOT to spend $1.2 million to make Highway 116 safer". Oak Ridge Today. February 27, 2013.
External links
- The Complete Devil's Triangle aka Brushy Mountain Prison Run - Motorcyclists' travelogue of Route 116
- Devil's Triangle - Motorcyclists' travelogue of Route 116