US 123 in Georgia and South Carolina
| US 123 | |||
| Get started | Clarkesville | ||
| End | Greenville | ||
| Length | 75 mi | ||
| Length | 120 km | ||
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According to watchtutorials, US 123 is a US Highway in the United States, located in the states of Georgia and South Carolina. The road forms an east-west route from Clarkesdale, Georgia via Clemson to Greenville. US 123 is 120 kilometers long.
Travel directions
US 123 in Georgia.
US 123 forms an east-west route through far northwestern South Carolina and northeastern Georgia. US 123 begins on US 23 in Georgia at Clarksdale, then heads east past Toccoa and enters South Carolina, before US 123 is a 2×2 lane freeway from the college town of Clemson to Easley, a suburb of Greenville. The rest of the route is a divided highway, only the westernmost part is a two-lane road. US 123 ends in the town of Greenville.
History
According to Citypopulationreview, the first US 123 was added to the network in 1930 as a connection between Jenkins and Pikeville, a short regional link in eastern Kentucky. In 1934 this became part of US 119 in Kentucky.
The current US 123 was added to the network of US Highways in 1946 as a connection between Cornelia, Georgia and Greenville, South Carolina. In 1991 the starting point in Georgia was changed from Cornelia to US 23 at Toccoa, about 10 kilometers to the east. This was because of a relocation of the US 23 over a new route, with which the US 123 moved.
The US 123 has been substantially upgraded. In the early 1960s, US 123 between Clemson and Greenville was widened to 2×2 lanes, of which a 25-kilometer stretch between Clemson and Easley was built directly as a freeway. This was built at the same time as Interstate 85, which runs a little further south in the same region. The reason for the construction of high-quality roads to Clemson was Clemson University, South Carolina’s second largest university. The double numbering with US 76 west of Clemson was also widened to 4 lanes in the 1960s.
US 129 in Georgia
| US 129 | |||
| Get started | Statenville | ||
| End | Ivy Log | ||
| Length | 362 mi | ||
| Length | 582 km | ||
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US 129 is a US Highway in the US state of Georgia. The road forms a long north-south route through the center of the state, from the Florida border at Statenville through Macon and Athens to the North Carolina border at Ivy Log. The route is 582 kilometers long.
Travel directions
US 129 / US 441 near Madison.
US 129 in Florida enters the state of Georgia in densely forested areas and then diverges northwards. US 129 has a secondary character in southern Georgia, the road is single-lane and does not serve places larger than a village. The main town on the southern part of the route is the town of Fitzgerald. US 129 runs 25 to 40 miles east of Interstate 75. The landscape is an alternation of forests and meadows and is flat. Crossing the Ocmulgee River in Hawkinsville, the road heads through Cochran to the east side of the town of Macon, getting closer to Interstate 16. This section is double-numbered with US 23 and leads through densely wooded area.
US 129 only runs through the suburbs of Macon, crossing I-16. After that, the road for about 30 kilometers is a 2×2 divided highway until Gray, after which the US 129 is largely a single lane road until the city of Athens. This route leads through a predominantly wooded area with only small towns. This route does have various bypasses and diversions, some of which have 2×2 lanes. North of Eatonton is US 129 with US 441 double-numbered. At Madison there is a connection to Interstate 20.
Further north around the university city of Athens, US 129 coincides with the ring road, which has been developed as a freeway. This ring road is numbered Loop 10, but many other routes are also routed over it. In Athens you cross the US 29 and US 78. After Athens, US 129 heads northwest to the city of Gainesville, which is a 2×2 divided highway. North of Jefferson it connects to Interstate 85. The city of Gainesville can be considered a remote suburb of Atlanta, and the area has been exurbanized to some extent. Interstate 985 is also crossed in Gainesville.
US 129 cuts through downtown Gainesville and then crosses a distant arm of the great Lake Sidney Lanier. The area becomes more hilly here. US 129 is mostly a 2+1 road to Cleveland, a small town nestled at the foot of the Appalachian Mountains. Further north, a double numbering begins with US 19, right through the mountains. The road leads here over the 950 meter high Neels Gap, the highest mountain pass of US 129. US 19/129 continues via Blairsville to the border with North Carolina, after which US 129 in North Carolina continues to Murphy.
History
US 129 at Blairsville in northern Georgia.
US 129 was one of the original US Highways of 1926 and at the time ran from Macon to Gainesville, entirely in the state of Georgia. The northern terminus was changed to Cleveland, Georgia, slightly more north than Gainesville, in 1931. In 1935 a second extension followed north to Knoxville, Tennessee. In 1941, US 129 was then extended south to Jasper, Florida. This established the current route through Georgia.
From the beginning, there was a dense network of through roads in Georgia, so US 129 was not a dominant route. The most important segment at the time was the part from Macon to Athens, two places that were already among the larger towns of Georgia at the time.
However, the first section to be upgraded was south of Macon, between Warner Robins and Macon, which has been widened to 2×2 lanes since the 1950s due to the presence of Robins Air Force Base. Later in the 1960s, however, US 129 was routed more easterly from Hawkinsville via Cochran to Macon, thus merging US 129 with US 23.
In the second half of the 1970s, the upgrade of US 129 into a 2×2 divided highway, initially a 20-kilometer stretch between Macon and Gray, began. Around 1991, a western bypass of Eatonton, which is also part of US 441, opened. An eastern bypass of Madison was also constructed in the early 1990s. In the mid-1990s, a western bypass of Watkinsville followed. Around 2000, the approach roads from Gainesville were widened to 2×2 lanes. Gray’s bypass opened in Jones County on December 15, 2016.
However, US 129 has undergone fewer upgrades than many other US Highways in Georgia. Long stretches are still single-lane, including almost the entire stretch south of Macon. But even between Macon and Athens, the largest parts are still single-lane, despite the fact that no Interstate Highway runs parallel to it.
Athens – Gainesville
In the period 2005-2006, US 129 between Athens and I-85 was widened to a 2×2 divided highway, including a Jefferson diversion. In 2017-2021, US 129 was widened further from I-85 to Gainesville to a 2×2 divided highway, making the first longer stretch of US 129 2×2 lanes for approximately 60 kilometers between Athens and Gainesville. Around 2017-2018, a western bypass of Cleveland in the Appalachian Mountains was completed.
