U.S. Route 31E

x70px U.S. Route 31E
Major junctions
South end:	US 31 / US 31W / US 41 / US 431 in Nashville, TN
	US 231 near Bransford, TN I-265 in Louisville, KY I-264 in Louisville, KY
North end:	US 31 / US 31W / US 60 in Louisville, KY
Location
States:	Tennessee, Kentucky
Counties:	TN: Davidson, Sumner KY: Allen, Barren, Hart, LaRue, Nelson, Spencer, Bullitt, Jefferson
Highway system
United States Numbered Highways List Bannered Divided Replaced

U.S. Route 31E (US 31E) is the easternmost of two parallel routes for U.S. Highway 31 from Nashville, Tennessee, to Louisville, Kentucky. (At one time, it split with U.S. Highway 31W at Sellersburg, Indiana, north of Louisville.)

Route description

Tennessee

After its Nashville beginning, the highway passes through Hendersonville and Gallatin, Tennessee.It never intersects Interstate 40.

Kentucky

Junction of U.S. Route 31E and Interstate 265

U.S. Route 31E in Kentucky is the easternmost of two parallel routes for U.S. Highway 31 in Kentucky, in between each is Interstate 65 in Kentucky. At the north end is Louisville, Kentucky, starting at the George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge. Going south, it goes through the towns of Mount Washington, Bardstown, New Haven, Hodgenville, Glasgow, and Scottsville before arriving at the Tennessee border. In the 19th century the same route was a stagecoach path between Louisville and Nashville, Tennessee, and before that a postal route at least by 1820. Originally part of the Jackson Highway, the Works Progress Administration measured the total distance on 31E in Kentucky as 147.8 miles (237.9 km).

Junction of U.S. Route 31E and Interstate 264

Its only interchanges with interstates are in Jefferson County; both of which are beltways: Interstate 264 (Watterson Expressway) and the I-265/Gene Snyder Expressway. However, it has intersections with the state freeways of Martha Layne Collins Blue Grass Parkway (in Nelson County) and with the Louie B. Nunn Cumberland Parkway in Barren County.

There are various historical sites along 31E in Kentucky. Among them are Cave Hill Cemetery and Farmington Historic Plantation in Louisville, My Old Kentucky Home State Park in Bardstown, and Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site just south of Hodgenville. Also, five historic monuments to the Civil War are along the path: three in Louisville, one in Bardstown, and one in Glasgow.

31E has been known as a dangerous road, with many risky spots. A historic one was at Coxs Creek in Nelson County, where a post office had to be relocated so traffic could see each other. Other dangerous spots in Nelson County where emergency personnel consider notorious are Gobel Lake Curve, Hibbs Lane, and High Grove.

When the rerouting of 31E in Nelson and Spencer Counties was being planned, a survey of historic sites that could have been affected by the new route was studied, especially if the sites could one day become listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

History

The American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO) adopted a resolution against split routes in 1934. In order to eliminate the split in US-31 between Nashville, Tennessee, and Louisville, Kentucky, AASHO commissioned U.S. Route 37, replacing US 31E from the Louisville area south to Glasgow, Kentucky, where it then followed Kentucky Route 63 and several routes in Tennessee to Chattanooga. The rest of US 31E from Glasgow to Nashville was assigned U.S. Route 143. This proposed route was extended southwest to Centerville in 1938 and Jackson in 1944 via State Route 100 and State Route 20. US 31W would have become the main route of US 31.

Kentucky and Tennessee refused to accept the renumbering and never changed signage for the routes. In 1952, AASHO re-recognized the split, officially restoring the US 31E and US 31W designations.

Major intersections

State	County	Location	mi	km	Destinations	Notes
Tennessee	Davidson	Nashville			US 31 south (James Robertson Parkway / US 41 south / US 431 south / SR 6 south / SR 11 south)	south end of SR 6 overlap; south end of freeway
					Main Street	southbound exit and northbound entrance
					To I-24 / I-65 / Spring Street (US 31W north / US 41 north / US 431 north / SR 11 north)	southbound exit and northbound entrance
					Cleveland Street
					Douglas Avenue
					Trinity Lane
					Hart Lane / Ben Allen Road
					Broadmoor Drive
					SR 155 west (Briley Parkway) / I-65 / Briarville Road – Louisville, Nashville	south end of SR 155 overlap; US 31E south follows exit 15B
					SR 155 east (Briley Parkway) / Gallatin Road south – Opryland, Airport	north end of SR 155 overlap; north end of freeway; US 31E north follows exit 14
					SR 45 (Old Hickory Boulevard)
	Sumner	Hendersonville			SR 386 – Gallatin, Nashville	SR 386 exit 3
					SR 258 north (New Shackle Island Road)
					SR 386 (Vietnam Veterans Boulevard) – Nashville	SR 386 exit 9; no access from US 31E south to SR 386 north
		Gallatin			SR 109 / to Airport Road / Steam Plant Road – Portland, Lebanon, Bledsoe Creek State Park, Airport	interchange
					SR 25 (Red River Road / West Main Street / SR 174 west) – Airport	south end of SR 174 overlap
					SR 174 east (Albert Gallatin Avenue)	north end of SR 174 overlap
					Airport Road to Steam Plant Road - Bledsoe Creek State Park, Airport
		Bransford			US 231 south (SR 376) – Hartsville, Lebanon	south end of US 231 overlap
		Westmoreland			SR 52 to SR 109 / I-65 – Portland, Lafayette
Kentucky	Allen	​			KY 482 / KY 3521 south (Andrew Jackson Highway)
		​			KY 1147
		Scottsville			KY 100 (Franklin Road) – Franklin, Scottsville
					US 231 north / KY 980 – Bowling Green, Scottsville	north end of US 231 overlap
		​			KY 101 – Smiths Grove, Scottsville
		​			KY 3499
		Cedar Springs			KY 252 north / KY 1855 south
	Barren	​			KY 87 – Barren River Lake State Resort Park
		Lucas			KY 1318	south end of KY 1318 overlap
					KY 1318	north end of KY 1318 overlap
		Haywood			KY 252 south
		Glasgow			KY 2207 west
					Cumberland Parkway / US 68 Truck east / KY 90 Truck east – Bowling Green, Somerset	Cumberland Parkway exit 11; south end of US 68 Truck / KY 90 Truck overlap
					US 31E Bus. north to KY 63
					KY 1297 (Cleveland Avenue)
					US 68 Bus. / US 68 Truck west / KY 90 east (West Main Street)	north end of US 68 Truck / KY 90 Truck overlap; south end of KY 90 overlap
					KY 90 west (Happy Valley Road) to I-65	north end of KY 90 overlap
					US 31E Bus. south – SKYCTC Glasgow Campus
					US 68 to KY 90
		Griderville			KY 70 – Cave City
	Hart	Bear Wallow			KY 2195
		Wigwam Village			KY 218 – Horse Cave, Greensburg
		Uno			KY 571
		Hardyville			KY 88 – Munfordville, Greensburg
		​			KY 1572
		Canmer			KY 1854
					KY 677
		Linwood			KY 566 east
					KY 569 south	south end of KY 569 overlap
					KY 569 north	north end of KY 569 overlap
		Jonesville			KY 936
	LaRue	Magnolia			KY 1079 – Munfordville
					KY 470 east – Buffalo
		​			KY 61 south – Greensburg, Mount Sherman, Buffalo	south end of KY 61 overlap
		Hodgenville			KY 61 north / KY 1618 east to I-65 – Elizabethtown, Campbellsville	north end of KY 61 overlap
					KY 84 west to I-65	south end of KY 84 overlap
					KY 210 west – Elizabethtown	south end of KY 210 overlap; traffic circle around city park
					KY 210 east – Campbellsville	south end of KY 210 overlap
		Ovesen Heights			KY 1794 east
		​			KY 1832 west
		White City			KY 470 west	south end of KY 470 overlap
					KY 84 east – Lebanon	north end of KY 84 overlap
					KY 470 east	north end of KY 470 overlap
	Nelson	New Haven			KY 52 east – Lebanon, Trappist	south end of KY 52 overlap
					KY 52 west – Lyons Station	north end of KY 52 overlap
		Culvertown			KY 247
		​			KY 46 west	south end of KY 46 overlap
		Balltown			KY 46 east	north end of KY 46 overlap
		​			Bluegrass Parkway / US 31E Truck north – Elizabethtown, Lexington
		Bardstown			US 62 west (West Stephen Foster Avenue) – Elizabethtown, Airport	south end of US 62 overlap
					US 62 east / US 150 east (East Stephen Foster Avenue) to Bluegrass Parkway east	north end of US 62 overlap; south end of US 150 overlap; traffic circle around Old Courthouse Building
					KY 1430 west (West Beall Avenue)
					KY 245 / US 31E Truck south / US 150 Truck east to I-65 / Bluegrass Parkway
					KY 332 (Old Nazareth Road)
		Coxs Creek			KY 509 – Fairfield
		​			KY 523
		​			KY 480 west
		Highgrove			KY 48 east – Fairfield, Bloomfield
	Spencer	No major junctions
	Bullitt	​			KY 2674 north
		Mount Washington			US 31EX north
					KY 44 – Mount Washington Business District
		​			US 31EX south – Mount Washington Business District
	Jefferson	Louisville			KY 660 east (Waterford Road)
				KY 2053 west (Thixton Lane)
				I-265 / KY 841 (Gene Snyder Freeway)	I-265 exit 17
				KY 1065 (Beulah Church Road / Seatonville Road)
				KY 1747 (South Hurstbourne Parkway)
				KY 1932 north (Breckenridge Lane)
				Bardstown Road (KY 2251 north) - Buechel Business District
				Progress Boulevard	interchange
West Buechel				Hikes Lane (KY 2052 south)
				Bardstown Road (KY 2251 south) - Buechel Business District
Louisville				I-264 (Watterson Expressway)	I-264 exit 16
				KY 155 south (Taylorsville Road)
				US 60 Alt. (Eastern Parkway)
				KY 2860 (Grinstead Drive)
				KY 1703 south (Baxter Avenue)
				US 150 west (East Broadway)	north end of US 150 overlap
				KY 864 south (East Chestnut Street)
				US 42 east / US 60 east (East Main Street)	south end of US 60 overlap; no direct access from US 42 west / US 60 west to US 31E south
				KY 61 south (Preston Street) to I-64 / I-71
				US 31 north (Second Street / Clark Bridge) / US 31W south / US 60 west (West Main Street)	north end of US 60 overlap
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

Bannered routes

Glasgow business route

U.S. Route 31E Business
Location:	Glasgow, Barren County, KY
Length:	3.24 mi (5.214 km)

US Route 31E Business starts near the Southgate Shopping Center 0.379 mile north of the Exit 11 interchange of the Louie B. Nunn Cumberland Parkway, and intersects Kentucky Routes 249 and 63 before reaching the Barren County Courthouse at the Public Square. It then joins US 68 Business for only 0.123 miles before right-turning onto North Race Street. US 31E Business then follows North Race Street, passes the T.J. Samson Hospital, and ends at an intersection with the regular US 31E alignment on the north side of town about one mile south of the Veterans Outer Loop.

Major intersections

The entire route is in Glasgow, Barren County.

mi	km	Destinations	Notes
0.000	0.000	US 31E / S L Roger Wells Boulevard	Western terminus
1.001	1.611	KY 249 south / Black Street	Northern terminus of KY 249
1.269	2.042	KY 63 east / East College Street	Western terminus of KY 63
1.406	2.263	KY 80 / KY 90 / US 68 Bus. / West Washington Street	Begin concurrency with KY 80/KY 90/US-Bus 68
1.516	2.440	KY 80 west / US 68 Bus. / West Main Street	End concurrency with KY 80/US-Bus 68
2.118	3.409	KY 90 / Happy Valley Road	End concurrency with KY 90
3.240	5.214	US 31E / Glasgow Bypass	Eastern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus

See also

• Roads in Louisville, Kentucky

External links

• Media related to at Wikimedia Commons

• Kleber p.16
• Simon pp.288,289
• Rennick p.70