Gatlinburg Bypass

Gatlinburg Bypass
Route information
Maintained by NPS
Length: 3.6 mi[1] (5.8 km)
Major junctions
South end: US 441 near Gatlinburg
North end: US 321 / US 441 in Gatlinburg
Location
Counties: Sevier
Highway system

The Gatlinburg Bypass (also known as Parkway Bypass or U.S. 441 Bypass) is a 3.6-mile-long (5.8 km) bypass of the resort city of Gatlinburg in Sevier County, Tennessee. The route is owned and maintained by the National Park Service and is considered part of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Route description

The Gatlinburg Bypass begins at an intersection with U.S. 441 (Newfound Gap Road) within the Great Smoky Mountains National Park southwest of Gatlinburg. It travels generally northward for about half of its route before turning to the northeast and ending at an interchange with U.S. 321/441 (Great Smoky Mountains Parkway) just north of town.[1]

After splitting with U.S. 441, the bypass almost immediately crosses over the West Prong of the Little Pigeon River. The road then begins to climb in elevation as it traverses Cove Mountain overlooking Gatlinburg from the west. It crosses over (but does not intersect) Ski Mountain Road, before winding its way over to its only mid-route intersection at Campbell Lead Road, which is accessed via a short two-way access road. After the intersection, the parkway begins to descend the mountain and again crosses the West Prong of the Little Pigeon River, before ending at a second interchange with U.S. 321/441.[1]

Northbound traffic leaving the bypass can go either direction on "Parkway" (as Great Smoky Mountains Parkway is called locally for brevity): continuing north along the river (the Foothills Parkway "spur" to Pigeon Forge, also maintained by the NPS), or south into downtown Gatlinburg. Conversely, due to very limited space for an overpass and two lanes of heavy traffic that would have to be crossed without one, traffic from the north end of town cannot access the bypass to go southbound to avoid the almost constant congestion through downtown. At the south end, southbound traffic on either road can reverse direction to return back north on the other.

Junctions list

The entire route is in Sevier County.

Locationmi[1]kmDestinationsNotes
Great Smoky Mountains National Park0.00.0 US 441 (Newfound Gap Road) – Gatlinburg, CherokeeInterchange; southern terminus
Gatlinburg1.82.9Campbell Lead RoadInterchange via two-way access road
3.65.8 US 321 / US 441 / SR 73 (Great Smoky Mountains Parkway) – Pigeon Forge, GatlinburgInterchange; northern terminus; No access from northbound US 441/US 321 to the Bypass
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Google (November 26, 2014). "Gatlinburg Bypass" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved November 26, 2014.
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