U.S. Route 27

U.S. Route 27 (US 27) is a north–south United States highway in the southern and midwestern United States. The southern terminus is at US 1 in Miami, Florida. The northern terminus is at Interstate 69 (I-69) in Fort Wayne, Indiana. From Miami it goes up the center of Florida, then west to Tallahassee, Florida, and north through such cities and towns as Columbus, Georgia; Rome, Georgia; Chattanooga, Tennessee; Lexington, Kentucky; Cincinnati, Ohio; Oxford, Ohio; Richmond, Indiana; and Fort Wayne, Indiana. It once extended north through Lansing, Michigan, to Cheboygan, Mackinaw City, and for about 3 years as far as St. Ignace.

US 27 appeared in 1926, replacing what had been the western route of the Dixie Highway in many places.

Route description

Florida

In Florida, US 27 has been designated the Claude Pepper Memorial Highway by the Florida State Legislature. It was named after long-time Florida US Senator and congressman Claude Pepper. Nearly the entire length of US 27 in Florida is a divided highway.

U.S. Route 27 in Michigan

US Highway 27 (US 27) is a part of the US Highway System that now runs from Miami, Florida, to Fort Wayne, Indiana. In the US state of Michigan, it was a state trunkline highway that entered the state south of Kinderhook and ended south of Grayling. Its route consisted of a freeway concurrency with Interstate 69 (I-69) from the state line north to the Lansing area before it followed its own freeway facility northward to St. Johns. From there north to Ithaca, US 27 was an expressway before continuing as a freeway to a terminus south of Grayling.

Created with the rest of the US Highway System on November 11, 1926, US 27 replaced a pair of state highways between the state line and the Cheboygan area. For a time, US 27 even extended from Cheboygan to St. Ignace over the Mackinac Bridge. The highway was converted into a series of freeways starting in the late 1950s. The northernmost section between Grayling and Mackinaw City, bypassing Cheboygan, became part of I-75, and US 27 was truncated to Grayling. Starting in the 1960s, the southern sections were included in I-69. The last section of Interstate in Michigan was completed in 1992 when I-69/US 27 opened southwest of Lansing. In the 1990s, a bypass of St. Johns north of Lansing was built, the last freeway segment of US 27 to open under that designation. On April 16, 1999, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) approved the removal of the US 27 designation from the state of Michigan; this change was put into place when the highway number was removed from signage in 2002. Former segments of US 27 from its pre-freeway configuration are still state highways in the form of M-27 between Indian River and Cheboygan or the various business routes in the state that previously bore Business US 27 (Bus. US 27) designations.

U.S. Route 27 in Florida

U.S. Route 27 (US 27) in Florida is a north–south United States Highway. It runs 481 miles (774 km) from the South Florida Metropolitan Area northwest to the Tallahassee Metropolitan Statistical Area. Throughout the state, US 27 has been designated the Claude Pepper Memorial Highway by the Florida Legislature. It was named after long-time Florida statesman Claude Pepper, who served in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. Nearly the entire length of US 27 in Florida is a divided highway.

Between Miami and Leesburg, US 27 follows SR 25, between Leesburg and Williston, it follows SR 500, between Williston and High Springs, it follows SR 45, between High Springs and Downtown Tallahassee, it follows SR 20, within Downtown Tallahassee it follows SR 61, and between Tallahassee and the Georgia border, it follows State Road 63 (SR 63).

Concurrencies include State Road 80, between South Bay and Clewiston, SR 78 from Moore Haven to Citrus Center, US 98 between Sebring and West Frostproof, US 441 between Leesburg and Ocala, which also includes a concurrency with US 301 between Belleview and Ocala. Others include US 41 between Williston and High Springs, SR 20 between High Springs and Tallahassee, US 129 in Branford, US 19 between Perry and Capps, and SR 61 in Tallahassee.