U.S. Route 23 in Tennessee

U.S. Route 23 (US 23) is a part of the U.S. Highway System that runs from Jacksonville, Florida to Mackinaw City, Michigan. In Tennessee, the U.S. Highway runs 57.5 miles (92.5 km) from the North Carolina state line, at Sam's Gap, north to the Virginia state line, in Kingsport. With a predominant concurrency with Interstate 26, US 23 is a divided four-lane freeway that follows Corridor B of the Appalachian Development Highway System and serves as a major thoroughfare in the Tri-Cities.

Route description

US 23, in concurrency with I-26, enters Unicoi County at Sam's Gap (el. 3,799 ft (1,158 m)) and travels north along Stamp Ridge.

Interstate 26

Interstate 26 (I-26) overlaps with US 23 from the North Carolina state line to US 11W (West Stone Drive) interchange in Kingsport. Established in August, 2003, it replaced I-181 south of I-81 and displace SR 36 and SR 81. In March, 2007, I-26 was extended north of I-81 to its current western terminus at US 11W, decommissioning I-181 completely, as all signs and exit numbers were changed-over to I-26's designation.