Tennessee State Route 56
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by TDOT | ||||
| Length: | 164.85 mi (265.30 km) | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| South end: |
 SR 117 near Sherwood | |||
 I-24 at Monteagle US 70S at McMinnville US 70 at Smithville I-40 near Silver Point & Baxter US 70N near Baxter | ||||
| North end: |
 KY 63 near Gamaliel, KY | |||
| Location | ||||
| Counties: | Franklin, Marion, Grundy, Warren, DeKalb, Putnam, Jackson, Macon | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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State Route 56 (SR 56) is a 164-mile (265 km) highway that runs south to north in Middle Tennessee.
SR 56 is secondary south of Sewanee. It is primary (but unsigned) along US 41A and US 41 between Sewanee and Tracy City. From Tracy City to the Kentucky line, SR 56 is a signed primary route, except west from North Springs to Gibbs Crossroads, where SR 151 carries primary traffic more directly to Red Boiling Springs.[1]
SR 56 begins at the end of Kentucky Route 63. From there it starts its southern journey through the small town of Red Boiling Springs and on to the town of Gainesboro in Jackson County.[1] It there becomes a division of the Tennessee Scenic Parkway system, and it proceeds south to U.S. Route 70N just outside Baxter in Putnam County.[1]
Before Interstate 40 was built in the 1960s, SR 56 went directly through the town of Baxter and proceeded down what is now the Old Baxter Road to Silver Point and then to Smithville. After the interstate came through, a spur route was built to intersect with Exit 280 (the Baxter - Gainesboro exit) that bypasses Baxter. Also, the route from I-40 to Gainesboro is known to Upper Cumberland residents as part of the Corridor J project. At the junction of I-40 and SR 56, SR 56 accompanies I-40 west for 7 miles (11 km). At Exit 273 (Smithville - McMinnville exit) SR 56 proceeds south towards Smithville and then to McMinnville in Warren County. This stretch of road between I-40 and Smithville was notorious for terrible curves prior to the late 1970s, but it was rebuilt and is now considered a good route to follow. Some refer to this route as the I-40 to I-24 corridor. In McMinnville, drivers can travel west on State Route 55 to Manchester to reach I-24.
Beyond McMinnville, SR 56 goes through Irving College before ascending to the top of the Cumberland Plateau, where it passes through Altamont and Tracy City before merging with U.S. Route 41 and U.S. Route 41A in Monteagle. Just past Sewanee, SR 56 diverges from US-41A and descends from the Cumberland Plateau into the Crow Creek Valley. After passing through Sherwood, SR 56 terminates at the Alabama/Tennessee state line. The road continues into Alabama as State Route 117.[1]
Major intersections
| County | Location | mi | km | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Franklin | | SR 117 south – Stevenson | Alabama state line | ||
| Sewanee |  US 41A north (SR 15 west) – Cowan, Nashville, Memphis | south end of US 41A / SR 15 overlap | |||
| St. Andrews |  SR 156 south – Sewanee-Franklin County Airport | ||||
| Marion | Monteagle | I-24 (US 64) – Nashville, Chattanooga | I-24 exit 134 | ||
 US 41 north (SR 2) | north end of US 41A / SR 15 overlap; south end of US 41 / SR 2 overlap | ||||
| Main Street (SR 2 south) - Chattanooga | north end of SR 2 overlap | ||||
| Grundy | Tracy City | US 41 south (SR 150) – Jasper | north end of US 41 overlap | ||
| Coalmont |  SR 108 – Pelham, Gruetli-Laager | ||||
| Altamont |  SR 50 west / SR 108 south | South end of SR 108 overlap | |||
 SR 108 north – Viola, McMinnville | north end of SR 108 overlap | ||||
| Warren | |   SR 127 to SR 8 south – Dunlap | |||
| McMinnville | SR 8 south – Dunlap | ||||
East Main Street To  SR 380 west | |||||
   SR 55 Bus. west – Manchester | Eastern terminus of SR 55 Bus.; Northern terminus of SR 108 | ||||
| SR 380 (Main and Morford Streets) | |||||
| US 70S (SR 1) to I-24 / SR 55 – Manchester, Woodbury, Sparta | |||||
| Green Hill |  SR 287 – Rock Island State Park | ||||
| DeKalb | |  SR 288 south | |||
| Smithville | US 70 (SR 26) – Lebanon, Sparta | ||||
 SR 83 south | |||||
| Putnam | Silver Point |  SR 141 west – Edgar Evins State Park | |||
| I-40 west – Nashville | South end of I-40 overlap; SR 56 south follows exit 273 | ||||
| Roberts | Old Baxter Road | I-40 exit 276 | |||
| Baxter | I-40 east – Knoxville | North end of I-40 overlap; SR 56 south follows exit 280 | |||
| US 70N (SR 24) – Carthage, Cookeville | |||||
| Bloomington Springs |  SR 291 south | ||||
| Jackson | |  SR 290 west | south end of SR 290 overlap | ||
| | SR 290 east – Cookeville | north end of SR 290 overlap | |||
| Gainesboro |  SR 53 south – Gainesboro, Granville, Gainesboro Antique District | South end of SR 53 overlap | |||
   SR 53 north / SR 85 east / SR 135 south – Celina, Livingston | north end of SR 53 overlap; south end of SR 85 / SR 135 overlap | ||||
| |  SR 85 west – Defeated, Carthage | north end of SR 85 overlap | |||
| Whitleyville | SR 135 north | north end of SR 135 overlap | |||
| North Springs |  SR 151 north – Red Boiling Springs | ||||
| Macon | |  SR 262 east | south end of SR 262 overlap | ||
| Gibbs Crossroads |  SR 80 south / SR 262 west – Lafayette, Carthage | north end of SR 262 overlap; south end of SR 80 overlap | |||
| Red Boiling Springs |  SR 52 – Lafayette, Celina | north end of SR 80 overlap | |||
| SR 151 east – Cyclemos Motorcycle Museum | |||||
| | KY 63 north – Gamaliel, Tompkinsville | Kentucky state line | |||
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi | |||||
References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tennessee State Route 56. |
- Tennessee Department of Transportation (24 January 2003). "State Highway and Interstate List 2003".
- 1 2 3 4 Tennessee Department of Transportation (2016). Official Transportation Map (PDF) (Map). c.1:1,013,760. Nashville: Tennessee Department of Transportation. §§ A9, A10–E10. Retrieved April 22, 2016.