U.S. Route 84

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U.S. Route 84

Length:

1919 mi^[1] (3088 km)

Formed:

1926^[1]

West end:

US 160 at Pagosa Springs, CO

Major
junctions:

I-25 at Santa Fe, NM

I-27 at Lubbock, TX

I-20 at Roscoe, TX

I-20 at Abilene, TX

I-35 at Waco, TX

I-45 at Fairfield, TX

I-55 near Brookhaven, MS

I-65 at Evergreen, AL

I-75 at Valdosta, GA

East end:

I-95/GA 38/GA 405 near Midway, GA

United States Numbered Highways
List - Bannered - Divided - Replaced

U.S. Route 84 is an east-west United States highway. It started as a short Georgia-Alabama route in the original 1926 scheme, but now extends all the way to Colorado. The highway's eastern terminus is a short distance east of Midway, Georgia, at an intersection with I-95. The road continues toward the nearby Atlantic Ocean as a county road. Its western terminus is in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, at an intersection with U.S. Route 160.^[2]

The section from Brunswick, Georgia to Roscoe, Texas has been designated by five state legislatures as part of the El Camino East/West Corridor. The designation was in recognition of its history as a migration route from the Atlantic coast to the present U.S.-Mexico border, one of the routes that Spanish settlers called El Camino Real. The designation is intended to promote the route for both tourism and NAFTA-facilitated trade with Mexico.^[3]^[4]

1 Route description
2 History
3 References

[edit] Route description

[edit] Colorado

The western endpoint of U.S. 84, Pagosa Springs, Colorado, was made famous by C.W. McCall in the 1975 song, Wolf Creek Pass.

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[edit] New Mexico

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[edit] Texas

US 84/60/70 crosses into Texas at Farwell. After passing through Farwell, US 60 makes a turn to the northeast, while US 84/70 veers to the southeast, continuing as a co-signed route until Muleshoe. At this point, US 70 leaves the route, while US 84 continues on a southeasterly bearing all the way to Lubbock. Signed as Avenue A, US 84 passes through the heart of downtown Lubbock before making a sharp easterly turn on the southeast side of the city, where it is known as the Slaton Highway. After bypassing the town of Slaton, US 84 makes another gentle turn to the east, following a generally southeasterly heading all the way to Roscoe, where it merges with I-20.

From this point, US 84 follows I-20, unsigned, until Abilene where it leaves the interstate, making a hard southerly turn and forming the western side of a 3/4 loop around the city (along with US Highways 83 and 277). From the south side of Abilene, US 84 continues as a co-signed route with US 83 (signed as US 84 West/East and US 83 South/North) until the two highways split approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) northeast of Tuscola, and, though still signed as east/west, maintains a due south/north heading. US 84 makes a gentle turn back to the southeast at Lawn, following this bearing until Santa Anna, where it merges with US 67 and takes a more due easterly turn.

US 84 merges with US 183 at Brownwood, and once again turns to the southeast, continuing as a co-signed route until Goldthwaite, where it leaves US 283 and yet again makes a sharp turn to the east. It follows this heading all the way to McGregor. From McGregor, the highway makes a turn to the northeast to Woodway; this stretch of US 84 is also signed as the George W. Bush Parkway. US 84 then crosses into Waco, passing through the heart of downtown as Waco Drive, and then northeast into the suburb of Bellmead. After briefly being co-signed with State Highway 31 through Bellmead, US 84 continues more or less due east until Teague, where it takes yet another turn to the north before turning back to the east at an intersection with I-45 in Fairfield.

US 84 merges with US 79 and makes another northerly turn southwest of Palestine, and then splits from Highway 79 just southwest of downtown before making another turn eastward and passing through town. The highway follows a gentle northeasterly path all the way to Timpson, passing through the towns of Maydelle, Rusk where it intersects with US 69, Reklaw, Mount Enterprise where it intersects US 259 and Timpson where it merges with US 59, and serves as the northern terminus of SH 87 . From Timpson to Tenaha it is briefly co-signed with US 59 to its intersection with US 96. From this point, US 84 continues it's easterly path through to rest of eastern Texas, passing through Joaquin before crossing into Louisiana across the Sabine River into the town of Logansport.

Major cities
Pagosa Springs, Colorado Espanola, New Mexico Santa Fe, New Mexico Clovis, New Mexico Farwell, Texas Lubbock, Texas Snyder, Texas Abilene, Texas Waco, Texas Logansport, Louisiana Natchez, Mississippi Laurel, Mississippi Coffeeville, Alabama Evergreen, Alabama Andalusia, Alabama Enterprise, Alabama Dothan, Alabama Donalsonville, Georgia Bainbridge, Georgia Thomasville, Georgia Valdosta, Georgia Waycross, Georgia Midway, Georgia

[edit] Louisiana

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[edit] Mississippi

Highway 84 will soon be four-laned through the entire state of Mississippi. Only one short segment of two-lane highway remains: from the Alabama state line west to Waynesboro. A widening project is currently underway.

Highway 84 runs concurrent with Interstate 59 for a short distance through Laurel, including a segment currently under reconstruction to remove a notorious 'S' curve. Completion of both the Waynesboro and Laurel projects is expected in summer of 2009.

Through the town of Collins, the present Highway 84 is four-laned but inefficient. A particular problem is the simple diamond interchange at U.S. Hwy 49, which favors traffic flow on 49 and thus requires left-turning access from 84. A new Collins bypass with a vastly improved Hwy 49 interchange is now under construction and is expected to open in late 2008.

In West Mississippi, U.S. 84 is paired with US 98 from Bude/Meadville to Washington, where it merges with U.S. 61 to nearby Natchez. The four-laned Natchez-Vidalia Bridge, crossing the Mississippi River, carries Highway 84 into Vidalia, Louisiana.

[edit] Alabama

Main article: U.S. Route 84 in Alabama

In Alabama, U.S. 84 is paired with unsigned State Route 12.

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[edit] Georgia

Main article: U.S. Route 84 in Georgia

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[edit] History

The original 1926 route of U.S. 84 skirted the southern border of Georgia, from Brunswick to the north edge of the Okefenokee Swamp, then west to Dothan, Alabama, just across the Alabama line.

In 1934, U.S. 84 was extended to Grove Hill, Alabama, then south on US 43 to Wagarville, Alabama, west to State Line, Mississippi, north on US 45 to Waynesboro, Mississippi, and then across Mississippi and Louisiana to Farwell, Texas. State Line was bypassed in the 1960s by a direct connection between Grove Hill and Waynesboro. A few sources report that the part between Natchez, Mississippi and Wagarville was planned as US 86 a year before. The Alabama Department of Transportation library in Montgomery, Alabama, holds state-issued maps and documents from that era with the stretch from US 43 to Mississippi labeled that way. At one point, funding was not secure for building a bridge over the Alabama River, and a US 86 designation would have made the absence of a bridge less obvious.^[5]

The east ends of U.S. 84 and U.S. Route 82 were swapped in 1989 after the roads around Waycross, Georgia, were reconfigured.

[edit] References

		edit Main U.S. Routes
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38
40	41	42	43	44	45	46		48	49	50	51	52	53	54	55	56	57	58	59
60	61	62	63	64	65	66	67	68	69	70	71	72	73	74	75	76	77	78	79
80	81	82	83	84	85		87		89	90	91	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99
101		400				412				425
Lists		U.S. Routes - Bannered - Divided - Bypassed - Portal