Everything about U S Route 17 totally explained
U.S. Route 17 (also known as the
Coastal Highway) is a north-south
United States highway. The highway spans the southeastern United States and is close to the
Atlantic Coast for much of its length. The highway's southern terminus is at
Punta Gorda, Florida, at an intersection with
U.S. Highway 41. Traveling north, US 17 joins up with
US 50 in
Paris, Virginia, and the northern terminus of US 17 is in downtown
Winchester, Virginia. This is also the point at which the portion of US 50 called the
Northwestern Turnpike begins.
Though
U.S. Route 1 is generally considered to be the highway that runs alongside
Interstate 95, US 17 runs parallel to I-95 for much of its extent, and even shares the same route for short spans in
Fredericksburg and
Ridgeland.
Route description
Florida
| Major cities |
- Orlando, Florida
- Jacksonville, Florida
- Brunswick, Georgia
- Savannah, Georgia
- Charleston, South Carolina
- Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
- Wilmington, North Carolina
- Portsmouth, Virginia
- Chesapeake, Virginia
- Newport News, Virginia
- Fredericksburg, Virginia
|
In
Sanford, Florida, US 17 crosses the
St. Johns River via an unnamed bridge. The route traverses the waterway a second time via the Memorial Bridge in
Palatka.
In
Seminole County, the redevelopment of the 17-92 Community Redevelopment Area is handled by the
US 17-92 Community Redevelopment Agency, a component unit of the County government.
A portion of US 17 in Florida is concurrent with
U.S. Route 92.
Georgia
In
Woodbine, Georgia, US 17 crosses the
Satilla River by way of the
J. Edwin Godley Bridge. In
Brunswick, the route traverses the South Brunswick River over the
Sidney Lanier Bridge, then across the
Altamaha River bridge between
Glynn County and
McIntosh County. At the
South Carolina state line, US 17 crosses the
Savannah River on the
Eugene Talmadge Bridge.
The section of US 17 known as the "Gateway to Historic Brunswick and The Golden Isles" was included in
The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation's 2006 list of
Places in Peril.
In
Kingsland, US 17 crosses over the
St Mary's River and the Georgia/Florida state line via an unnamed bridge.
South Carolina
US 17 enters into South Carolina in
Jasper County as a two-lane road and within eight miles enters
Hardeeville, where it becomes a four-lane configuration. US 17 intersects
Interstate 95 in Hardeeville and runs parallel to Interstate 95 until
Ridgeland, where it merges with the interstate until
Point South. At Point South, US 17 leaves Interstate 95 and heads eastward into northern
Beaufort County, sharing a concurrency with
U.S. 21 until Gardens Corner. US 21 splits off to
Beaufort while US 17 heads northeast into the
ACE Basin and
Colleton County.
The stretch of US 17 between Gardens Corner and Jacksonboro is a scenic yet rural two-lane road configuration that has proven to be a very dangerous and deadly stretch for motorists. SCDoT is working on improving portions of the roadway, including widening some portions and reducing the speed limits. Once in Jacksonboro, the road enters into
Charleston County crossing over the
Edisto River and regaining a four-lane configuration for the remainder of the state. The road passes through several rural communities as it approaches Charleston from the west. Just before the interchange with
Interstate 526, major commercial development starts and continues into the West Ashley neighborhood of Charleston until the
Ashley River.
In
Charleston, US 17 traverses the Ashley River Drawbridges and enters into the Charleston "peninsula", being routed north of the historical areas of the city. The first portion is at-grade and has a few traffic-signals for flow purposes. Upon reaching the
Interstate 26 terminus, US 17 becomes limited-access and above grade as it approaches the
Cooper River via the
Arthur Ravenel, Jr. Bridge and the stretch of US 17 in Charleston is infamous among locals for its traffic congestion, especially on weekday mornings. The 3.6 mile section running from S.C. Highway 171 to Sam Rittenberg Boulevard has been named the "Charleston Nine Memorial Highway", in honor of nine Charleston firefighters killed in the line of duty in the
Charleston Sofa Super Store fire on
June 18,
2007.
Upon crossing the river, the highway enters
Mount Pleasant at grade and is signalized for several miles up through the second interchange with Interstate 526 and connecting roads to the
Isle of Palms and
Sullivans Island. The road leaves the Charleston metro area by entering into the
Francis Marion National Forest and going through the rural communities of
Awendaw and
McClellanville on its northeastern journey to
Georgetown. US 17 makes a spectacular crossing of the marsh-lined Santee River as it enters
Georgetown County. After going around the charming city of Georgetown, US 17 crosses eastward over the
Waccamaw /
Pee Dee river system before making a northward turn along the
Grand Strand.
The last component of US 17 runs close to the Atlantic, beginning at the Hobcaw Baronry and DeBordieu, passing by
Pawleys Island and going around Litchfield Beach. It then enters into
Horry County and passing
Surfside Beach,
Murrells Inlet and arriving in
Myrtle Beach. US 17 splits here between a business route and the standard route, which remains west of the beach and tourist areas served by Business 17. The roads rejoin north of the city and continue as US 17 through Atlantic Beach, North Myrtle Beach, and Little River before crossing into North Carolina over the Little River bridge. The portions from Murrells Inlet to the state line are quite congested at times, though the soon to be constructed
Interstate 73 should assist in alleviating many traffic issues.
North Carolina
In
Wilmington, North Carolina, US 17 (here concurrent with
Interstate 140) crosses the
Northeast Cape Fear River between
New Hanover County and
Brunswick County over the
Dan Cameron Bridge. Between
New Bern and
James City, US 17 (concurrent with
US 70 and
NC 55) crosses the
Trent River by way of the
Freedom Memorial Bridge. Farther east, between
James City and
Bridgeton, US 17, still concurrent with NC 55, crosses the
Neuse River over the
Neuse River Bridge.
In
Washington, US 17 crosses the
Pamlico River over the
Pamlico-Tar River Bridge. Farther along, in
Williamston, US 17 (concurrent with
US 13) uses the
Roanoke River Bridge to cross the
Roanoke River, then the
Cashie River Bridge to cross the
Cashie River at
Windsor. At the
Bertie County-
Chowan County line, US 17 traverses the
Chowan River on the
Chowan River Bridge. South of
Hertford, US 17 (here concurrent with
NC 37) crosses the
Perquimans River via the
Perquimans River Bridge. Between
Perquimans County and
Pasquotank County, US 17 crosses the
Little River over the
Little River Bridge. Finally, the route crosses the
Pasquotank River between
Pasquotank County, North Carolina and
Camden County, North Carolina on the
Pasquotank River Bridge.
Virginia
US 17 crosses the
James River between
Newport News and
Isle of Wight County on the
James River Bridge, a
drawbridge which was formerly a
toll bridge but is now toll-free, concurrent with
U.S. Route 258. The route also crosses the
York River between
Gloucester County and
York County at
Yorktown on the
George P. Coleman Bridge, a
drawbridge which is also a
toll bridge. Finally, US 17 traverses the
Rappahannock River between
Stafford County and
Spotsylvania County at
Fredericksburg as it overlaps
Interstate 95.
History
On
August 13,
2004,
Hurricane Charley made landfall just before 4:00 p.m. local time near the southern terminus of US 17. Incredibly, Charley would either hit or threaten to hit the entire route of US 17, devastating almost the entire route in Florida, at least from Punta Gorda to well north of Orlando (when Charley followed the route of
Interstate 4 out to sea). The Georgia stretch of US 17 wasn't hit, but was under a
hurricane warning. When Charley made landfall again in South Carolina, its trail all the way through Virginia was close to the route of US 17.
Florida
From 1956 until 1993, US 17 signs in Florida featured black numbering on a yellow shield. The "color-coding" of U.S. Routes by the
Florida Department of Transportation was stopped when the state could no longer use Federal funds to replace the signs with anything but the standard black-and-white version; a few yellow US 17 signs remain.
Major intersections
Virginia
North Carolina
US 158 between Morgans Corner, North Carolina and west of Elizabeth City, North Carolina (shared route)
US 13 in Windsor, North Carolina begin US 13 concurrency
US 13, and US 64 in Williamston, North Carolina end US 13 concurrency
US 264 in Washington, North Carolina
US 70 in New Bern, North Carolina
Interstate 40 and Interstate 140 in Wilmington, North Carolina
US 74, US 76, US 117, and US 421 in Wilmington, North Carolina
South Carolina
US 501 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
US 701, US 521 and ALT US 17 in Georgetown, South Carolina
Interstate 26, Interstate 526, US 52, and US 78, in Charleston, South Carolina
ALT US 17 and US 21 in Pocotaligo, South Carolina
Interstate 95 between Coosawhatchie, South Carolina and Ridgeland, South Carolina (shared route)
Interstate 95 in Hardeeville, South Carolina
Georgia
Florida
Interstate 95 in Becker, Florida
Interstates 95 and 10, US 1, US 23 and US 90 in Jacksonville, Florida
US 92 in DeLand begin US 92 concurrency
Interstate 4 northwest of Sanford
Interstate 4 in Orlando
US 441 between Orlando, Florida and Kissimmee, Florida (shared route)
US 27 in Haines City as US 17-92
US 92 south of Lake Alfred end US 92 concurrency
US 98 in Bartow, Florida begin US 98 concurrency.
US 98 in Fort Meade, Florida end US 98 concurrency.
Interstate 75 in Solana, FloridaFurther Information
Get more info on 'U S Route 17'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://u_s__route_17.totallyexplained.com">U.S. Route 17 Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
