US 23 in Georgia

 

US 23
Get started Folkston
End Dillard
Length 392 mi
Length 630 km
Route
Florida

Folkston

waycross

alma

Hazlehurst

McRae

Eastman

Cochran

Macon

Jackson

McDonough

Stockbridge

Forest Park

Atlanta

Druid Hills

Skyland

Doraville

norcross

Suwanee

Sugar Hull

Gainesville

Cornelia

Clayton

North Carolina

According to Existingcountries, US 23 is a US Highway in the US state of Georgia. The road forms a north-south route across the state, from Folkston on the Florida border to Dillard on the North Carolina border . The route passes through the cities of Macon and Atlanta, among others. The road is 630 kilometers long.

Travel directions

Southern Georgia

Double-numbered with US 1, the road crosses the Saint Mary’s River at Folkston, then heads northwest. The road has 2×2 lanes here. Soon the US 301 turns off, the road to Jesup in the north. The road then runs through wooded areas along the Okefenokee Swamp northwest to the town of Waycross, where there is a bypass. Here you cross the US 82, the road from Brunswick to Albany and the US 84 from Jesup to Valdosta. After Waycross, the road heads north, and at Alma, US 1 exits toward Augusta. The US 23 still has 2×1 lanes. The road then heads northwest again, and at Hazlehurst US 341 joinsin, which comes from Brunswick. It also crosses US 221, the road from Douglas in the south to Augusta in the north.

The road is then double numbered with US 341 and then has 2×2 lanes. The road runs to the northwest, through mostly densely wooded area. At the town of McRae you cross the US 280, the road from Savannah to Columbus. They also cross the US 319 from Fitzgerald to Wrightsville, and the US 441 from Douglas to Dublin, all kinds of regional towns in the wider area. At Eastman, US 341 exits toward Perry, while US 23 continues northwest as a single-lane highway toward Macon. This part of Georgia is less densely forested, with regular pastures. Via Cochran the road leads to Macon, where Interstate 16intersects the highway from Macon to Savannah on the east coast. The road then passes through Macon and intersects Interstate 75, the major north-south highway from Atlanta toward Tampa. After Macon, the road continues northwest, parallel to I-75.

This area is again heavily forested, and some State Routes are crossed to surrounding villages and towns. You then pass through the Oconee National Forest. Soon the area begins to urbanize, foreshadowing the Atlanta metropolitan area, although that city is still about 50 kilometers away. One then reaches Stockbridge, the first real suburb of the urban area.

Atlanta

One crosses Interstate 675 here, a short highway from I-75 to the I-285 ring road. The road then runs through a somewhat disorganized area with small industrial estates, neighborhoods and undeveloped areas. At Conley one crosses Interstate 285, the outer ring of Atlanta. US 23 then forms Moreland Avenue, and runs right across the county boundary of Fulton and DeKalb. This is also the municipal boundary of the city of Atlanta. One then crosses Interstate 20, the highway from Birmingham to Augusta. US 23 does not run through downtown Atlanta, but through the east of the city. At Druid Hills, the road turns east and is briefly double-numbered with theUS 29 and US 278. It also crosses US 78. The road then continues north through North Druid Hills and then crosses Interstate 85, the highway from Atlanta to Greenville in South Carolina. The road then forms the Buford Highway and has 2×3 lanes. At Doraville you cross the ring road I-285 again. People are certainly not out of the urban area yet, which continues for many kilometers. The road parallels I-85 through Mechanicsville and Duluth, and later parallels Interstate 985. One then reaches Gainesville, the last suburb of Atlanta, 75 kilometers from the center. Here US 23 merges with I-985, which also stops.

Northern Georgia

After Gainesville, US 23 forms a 2×2 lane highway with at-grade intersections. One therefore crosses US 129, the road from Athens to Murphy in the far west of North Carolina. One passes by Cornelia, where the US 441 merges, which also comes from Athens. Both roads will then be double-numbered for the rest of the route through Georgia. At Toccoa , US 123 exits toward Greenville, South Carolina. The environment of US 23 then becomes hilly and even mountainous with peaks above a thousand meters, the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. At Tallulah Falls you come close to the border with South Carolina. After Clayton, the 2×2 lane section ends. It crosses US 76, the road from Cleveland in Tennessee to Anderson in South Carolina. Not far after that, the border with North Carolina follows, after which US 23 in North Carolina continues towards Asheville.

History

According to anycountyprivateschools, US 23 was one of the original US Highways of 1926, but it didn’t pass through Georgia from the start. In 1931, the route was extended from Pineville, Kentucky to Atlanta. A major extension to Jacksonville, Florida, followed in 1950, creating the current route of US 23.

Before the construction of I-75, US 23 was not the primary approach to Atlanta from the south, it was US 19 going west at the time . However, it was the primary approach road to northeast Georgia, here Interstate 85 opened between Atlanta and Suwanee as early as 1959, making this the first section of US 23 to be replaced by a freeway.

The first upgrade to US 23 itself was a widening through Folkston, a small town on the Florida border. This section was also part of US 1. In the period 1963-1972, Interstate 75 was built parallel to US 23 between Macon and Atlanta. As a result, the US 23 between the two places has only been upgraded to a limited extent. US 23 originally ran here via Forsyth, but was moved to an easterly route on State Route 87 in the early 1970s, bringing US 23 and I-75 further apart.

Southern Georgia

In the mid-1960s, the first 10 miles of US 23 south of Waycross was widened to 2×2 lanes. However, the rest between Folkston and Waycross was not widened to a 2×2 divided highway until the early 1990s. This was part of the Governor’s Road Improvement Program. The northwest bypass of Waycross was also constructed in the mid-1990s, so that US 23 piggybacks on US 82 for a while. In the early to mid-2000s, US 23 was widened to 2×2 lanes between Waycross and north of Alma.

In the second half of the 1980s, the first section of the stretch between Macon and US 1 north of Alma was widened, a short stretch in the Hazlehurst area. Further upgrades did not come until the late 1990s. In 1999, the route from McRae to Lumber City was widened to 2×2 lanes. In the early 2000s, the road between Eastman and McRae was widened to a 2×2 divided highway. Many other upgrades have not been carried out on US 23 south of Macon, significant parts are still a single carriageway.

Northern Georgia

In 1970, Interstate 985 opened as a feeder to I-85. This highway was constructed parallel to US 23 until Gainesville, so that this part of US 23 was no longer important for through traffic. In the mid-1980s, an all-new 2×2 lane of US 23 was constructed as an extension of I-985 between Gainesville and Clarkesville. This upgrade was approximately 45 kilometers long and was the largest realignment of US 23.

US 23 in the Appalachian Mountains was widened to 2×2 lanes in the early to mid-1990s, initially in two phases between Clarkesville and Tallulah Falls, and was extended to 2×2 lanes in 2005-2007 between Tallulah Falls and Clayton..

US 23 in Georgia

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