State Route 5 (SR5) is a north–south state highway in the western part of the U.S. state of Tennessee. Except for the section northwest of Union City, it is entirely concurrent with U.S. Route 45 (US45) and US 45W.

Route description

McNairy County

SR5 begins in McNairy County as the hidden designation for US 45 at the Mississippi state line just north of Corinth. The highway goes north as a 4-lane divided highway to an intersection with Old US Highway 45S (a connector to MS 145), where it narrows to an undivided 4-lane and passes through the town of Guys. US45/SR5 then pass through Eastview, where they have an intersection with SR 57, before having an intersection with SR 142 and entering Selmer. US45/SR5 passes through a business district before coming to an intersection with US 64/SR 15 and US 64 Business (US64Bus.), where US45/SR5 turns left to become concurrent with US64/SR15. They bypass downtown along the western side as a divided highway before coming to an interchange US64Bus. at the northern edge of town, where US64/SR15 split off and US45/SR5 leave Selmer and continue north. They pass through Bethel Springs before passing through rural areas to have an intersection with SR 199 in Finger. The highway then crosses in Chester County.

Chester County

US45/SR5 continue north through rural areas before entering Henderson and having an interchange with SR 100. The highway has an intersection with SR 365 before bypassing downtown to the west. US45/SR5 then has another intersection with SR365 before leaving Henderson and continuing northwest to cross into Madison County.

Madison County

US45/SR5 pass through Pinson, where it has an intersection with SR 197, before passing through rural areas to enter the city of Jackson, where the road narrows to an undivided 4-lane highway known as SHighland Avenue. It has an intersection with SR 18 (Bolivar Highway) before passing through residential areas. It then passes through a wooded area to cross a bridge over the South Fork of the Forked Deer River to enter downtown, where it comes to an intersection with US 70/SR 1 and US 45 Byp./SR 186 (E/WChester Street). US45/SR5 becomes NHighland Avenue as it passes through downtown before entering residential areas and coming to an intersection with US 412 Bus./SR 20 (North Parkway) at Old Hickory Mall. US45/SR5 passes through a business district before having a single-point urban interchange with I-40/US 412 (Exit82). The highway continues north through residential areas before leaving Jackson and coming to an interchange with the north end of US45Byp., where it becomes concurrent with unsigned SR186. US45/SR5/SR186 go north as a 4-lane divided highway to cross a bridge over the Middle Fork of the Forked Deer River to enter Three Way and to an interchange at the split of US45 into US 45W and US 45E. Here SR186 goes north along US45E/SR 43 while SR5 follows US45W. US45W/SR5 then cross into Gibson County.

Gibson County

The highway enters Humboldt and comes to an intersection with US 45W Bus., where SR5 breaks away from US45W to follow US45WBus. while US45W follows SR 366. They go northwest as an undivided 4-lane known as EMain Street to pass through residential areas before narrowing to 2-lanes and becomes concurrent with US 70A/US 79/SR 76 (Eastend Drive). They enter downtown together before splitting there, with US70A/US79/SR76 continuing on WMain Street while US45WBus./SR5 go north along NCentral Avenue. They leave downtown and have an intersection with SR 152 (E Mitchell Street) before passing through a residential area. US45WBus./SR5 then pass through a business district before US45WBus. ends at an intersection with US45W/US 70A Byp./US 79 Byp./SR366, where US45W turns north to become concurrent with SR5 again as they leave Humboldt and continue north. US45W/SR5 becomes a 4-lane divided highway before passing through Fruitland, where it has an intersection with SR 420 before passing through rural areas. It then enters Trenton at an intersection with SR 457 and SR 367, where US45W/SR5 turn right to follow a 2-lane bypass of downtown on the eastern side. The highway becomes concurrent with SR 54 before having another intersection with SR186 in a business district before having an intersection with SR 77 and SR 104, where it becomes concurrent with SR77, in a more rural part of town. SR54 then splits off before the highway curves to the west to have another intersection with SR367. US45W/SR5/SR77 then widen to a 4-lane divided highway to curve back northward and leave Trenton. They wind their way north through farmland to pass through Dyer, where it bypasses the town on its west side, to have an interchange with SR 185, where SR77 splits off and goes west. US45W/SR5 continue north to pass through Rutherford, where it bypasses the town on its west side, and has an interchange with SR 105. US45W/SR5 then narrows to 2-lanes as it has an intersection with its former alignment just before entering Kenton and crossing into Obion County.

Obion County

US45W/SR5 have a short concurrency with SR 89 before leaving Kenton and continuing north. The highway passes through a wooded area to cross a bridge over the Obion River before passing through farmland to become concurrent with SR 21. They then have an intersection with SR 216 just west of Rives before continuing north to enter Union City and come to an intersection with SR 431/SR 184 (W/EReelfoot Avenue), where US45W splits and turns right onto SR431/SR184. SR5 becomes a fully signed secondary highway and follows First Street through some neighborhoods before entering downtown and coming to an intersection with Main Street, where SR21 turns right onto Main Street while SR5 turns left onto Main Street. SR5 continues west through downtown before coming to an intersection with US 51/SR 3 (Jere B. Ford Memorial Highway), where SR5 becomes concurrent with SR 22. They go west past some businesses before passing through the diamond interchange with SR 690 (Future I-69). At an intersection with Old Lake Road, SR22 turns west toward Samburg. SR5 continues northwest to leave Union City and continue north through rural areas to pass through Woodland Mills before coming to the Kentucky state line, where the road continues north as Kentucky Route 125 (KY125).

The signed portion of SR5 exists entirely within Obion County and is approximately in length.

History

Several old alignments (most are two-lane) of SR5 exist throughout the state with the most notable examples being near the Mississippi state line, a section of Old Highway 45 between Bethel Springs and Selmer, SR 367 through Trenton, and a long stretch of old highway between Trenton and Rutherford.

Originally, SR5 north of Trenton followed a much different route from the current alignment. From Trenton, SR5 bent to the northeast, following the old Dresden Road as far as Greenfield, where it turned north and roughly followed the present-day SR 43. As evidenced by road maps published by the National Map Company and Rand McNally, sometime between 1927 and 1935, SR5 was rerouted to follow the former SR 41 north to Kenton and on to Union City.

Future

TDOT has proposed widening SR5 in Obion County as part of The 2008-2010 Transportation Improvement Program. Right-of-way acquisition was slated to begin in FY2008 on a section of SR5 from Troy Station Road to Allie Campbell Road and in FY2010 for the section between Allie Campbell Road and SR 22. This will leave a two-lane section of SR5 from Rutherford, Tennessee to a point just north of the Obion River.

Major intersections

See also

• List of highways numbered 5

References

External links