U.S. Route 11W

U.S. Route 11W marker
U.S. Route 11W
Map
Route information
Auxiliary route of US 11
Length110.28 mi[1][2] (177.48 km)
ExistedNovember 11, 1926[3]–present
Major junctions
South end US 11 / US 11E / US 70 in Knoxville, TN
Major intersections
North end US 11 / US 11E / US 19 / US 421 in Bristol, VA
Location
CountryUnited States
StatesTennessee, Virginia
CountiesTN: Knox, Grainger, Hawkins, Sullivan
VA: City of Bristol
Highway system
← US 11EVA→ US 13
← US 11ETN→ SR 11

U.S. Route 11W (US 11W) is the western branch of US 11 from the twin cities of Bristol, Tennessee/Bristol, Virginia, where US 11 splits into US 11E and US 11W, to Knoxville, Tennessee, where the two highways rejoin. The highway serves the Appalachia region's Ridge-and-Valley section of East Tennessee, bounded by the Clinch Mountain ridge to the north and the Holston River to the south. US 11W from Bristol to Bean Station and Blaine to Knoxville are designated as part of the National Highway System.[4]

US 11W follows the original pathway of the Great Indian Warpath, a Native American trail used primarily by the Cherokee Nation, which inhabited the Holston River Valley of Tennessee and Virginia. In 1915, US 11W was designated as part of Tennessee State Route 1 (SR 1) in the Tennessee State Route System of the newly formed Tennessee Department of Highways and Public Works, the predecessor agency of the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT).[5] It would also be recognized as part of the Lee Highway, one of the earliest federal auto trails, in 1919.[6] The route was officially established as US 11 with the creation of the U.S. Highway System in 1926.

Disputes between Tennessee state politicians and businessmen regarding designation of US 11 on the existing Lee Highway alignment and the paralleling US 511 south of US 11 resulted in the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) renaming the existing US 11 to US 11W, and US 511 to US 11E in an event known as the "Tennessee Split" in 1929, which is still recognized despite attempted reversions by AASHTO in 1934.

By the mid-20th century, US 11W became known infamously as Bloody 11W due to the high number of severe and often fatal automobile collisions on the highway.[7] In 1972, US 11W in Bean Station was the site of the deadliest vehicular accident in Tennessee history, prompting calls for the widening of the highway and the completion of Interstate 81 (I-81). Preliminary planning of I-81 considered using US 11W's alignment but was constructed south to meet with Interstate 40 (I-40). After I-81's completion, TDOT would widen sections of US 11W to aid economic development, such as the cancelled Phipps Bend Nuclear Plant project in Hawkins County,[8] and to connect to the Appalachian Development Highway System's upgraded U.S. Route 25E (US 25E) in Bean Station.[9] As of 2021, US 11W remains one of Tennessee's deadliest highways.[10]

  1. ^ "U.S. Route 11W" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved August 25, 2011.
  2. ^ "2009 Traffic Data". Virginia Department of Transportation. 2009. Retrieved August 25, 2011.
  3. ^ Weingroff, Richard. "U.S. 11 - Rouses Point, New York, to New Orleans, Louisiana". Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
  4. ^ "National Highway System: Tennessee" (PDF). Federal Highway Administration. United States Department of Transportation. September 30, 2020. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  5. ^ TDOT 100 Year Anniversary
  6. ^ Varner, S. "Lee Highway". Varner Guides: American Roads. Retrieved June 24, 2023.
  7. ^ "U.S. HIGHWAY 11W SPECIAL JOINT INVESTIGATIVE COMMITTEE RECORDS" (PDF). Tennessee State Library. 1973. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  8. ^ "The Atom at Phipps Bend - Part 2". Johnson City Press. February 20, 1977. Retrieved May 22, 2022.
  9. ^ Grainger County Heritage Book Committee (January 1, 1999). Grainger County, Tennessee and Its People 1796-1998. Walsworth Publishing. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  10. ^ Fisher, Josh (June 1, 2021). "25 deadliest U.S. highways: 2021 edition". FleetOwner. Retrieved July 5, 2021.