Interstate 26

Interstate 26 (I-26) is a nominally east-west (but physically more northwest-southeast diagonal) main route of the Interstate Highway System in the Southeastern United States. I-26 runs from the junction of U.S. Route 11W and U.S. Route 23 in Kingsport, Tennessee, generally southeastward to U.S. Route 17 in Charleston, South Carolina. The portion from Mars Hill, North Carolina, east (compass south) to Interstate 240 in Asheville, North Carolina, has signs indicating FUTURE I-26 because the highway does not yet meet all of the Interstate Highway standards. A short realignment as an improvement in the expressway was also planned in Asheville, but has been postponed indefinitely due to North Carolina's budget shortfalls.

Northwards from Kingsport, US-23 continues north to Portsmouth, Ohio, as the Corridor B of the Appalachian Development Highway System, and beyond to Columbus, as the Corridor C. In conjunction with the Columbus-Toledo, Ohio corridor formed by Interstate 75, U.S. 23, and State Route 15, I-26 forms part of a mostly high-speed four-or-more-lane highway from the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Coast at Charleston, South Carolina. There are no plans for further official Interstate 26 extensions farther north than Northern Tennessee.

Interstate 26 in North Carolina

Interstate 26 (I-26) runs between its terminus in Charleston, South Carolina, and Kingsport, Tennessee. I-26 is mostly four lanes through North Carolina with few exceptions. It goes through the Appalachian Mountains and crosses the Eastern Continental Divide and Asheville. I-26's original eastern terminus was I-40/I-240 in Asheville. Between 2003 and 2005, the road was extended further north into Tennessee. Along the segment from Mars Hill to Asheville there are FUTURE I-26 signs as some parts of the road have not yet to be upgraded to Interstate Highway standards.

Route description

I-26, in concurrency with US 23, enters the state at Sams Gap (elevation 3,760 feet (1,150 m)), from Tennessee. In the first 9 miles (14 km), designated as a scenic byway, it features mostly six travel lanes and three runaway truck ramps along its eastbound. The freeway is also parallels US 23A, which was the original route before 2006. At exit 9, I-26 ends and Future I-26 begins; US 19 also joins from Burnsville.

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.