(about 64 k)
Photo credits: H.B. Elkins; J.P. Nasiatka; Mike Page; me
The photo below was taken in downtown Louisville KY, looking north on 2nd Street at Main Street:
me,
July 2007
Ahead is the US 31 bridge over the Ohio River into Jeffersonville IN. Below is a different perspective (looking west on Main):
me,
July 2007
This intersection was probably the historic endpoint of US 168 from 1926-1934, and of US 42 after 1932. Today this junction marks US 31's north split into US 31E and US 31W. Note the US 31 sign at upper right - that's because Main is northbound US 31E to this point. Straight ahead is southbound US 31W, and to the right is northbound US 31. That intersection used to be incorrectly signed thus:
Nasiatka, Sep. 2003
If you take that right turn over the 2nd Street Bridge, the sign below is posted on the bridge itself:
Elkins, May 2000
KY DoT, 1999
Notice the one-ways and the split. Heading south on US 31 from Indiana, one encounters the unlikely sign shown below:
Nasiatka, Sep. 2003
2nd (ahead) used to be one-way northbound (towards the camera), so you can see why both routes had to be directed to the right in the past (see map scan). But now 2nd goes both ways, so it's unclear why these signs haven't been changed: US 31E should be directed straight ahead and then left on the next block (Market, which is the eastbound one-way partner with Main). If you do follow signage west here on Main, J.P reports the left turn from westbound Main to southbound 3rd is not signed for US 31E traffic... so you'd have difficulty correctly navigating yourself through town. Assuming you were alert enough to go south on 3rd and then back east on Market, you'd see the first US 31E trailblazer on Market, east of 2nd:
Nasiatka, Sep. 2003
Marc Fannin points out that, later on, there was another junction that marked the split into 31E and 31W: where today's IN hwy. 311 ends at US 31 (this was in Sellersburg IN, not far north of Louisville).
These two routes come back together in Nashville TN. The photo below was taken from northbound US 31, just across the Cumberland River from downtown Nashville:
Page, Sep. 2002
To the left, Spring Street is not only US 31W and US 431, but also US 41. Spring becomes the Dickerson Pike, serving Goodlettsville. To the right, Ellington Parkway is a newer freeway, connecting with Briley Parkway (TN 155). But from there US 31E traffic is directed back to its original routing along the Gallatin Pike, serving Hendersonville and Gallatin.
Page created 01 November 1999; last updated 17 June 2008. |