Interstate 124

{{Infobox road

|state=TN

|type=I

|route=124

|map={{maplink-road|raw={{Wikipedia:Map data/Wikipedia KML/Interstate 124}}}}

|map_custom=yes

|map_notes=I-124 highlighted in red

|length_mi=1.97

|length_ref={{cite web|last=DeSimone|first=Tony|title=Table 2: Auxiliary Routes of the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System Of Interstate and Defense Highways as of October 31, 2002|work=FHWA Route Log and Finder List|url=https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/national_highway_system/interstate_highway_system/routefinder/table02.cfm |publisher=Federal Highway Administration|date=April 6, 2011|access-date=March 4, 2010}}

|established=November 12, 1958{{cite web |url=https://na4.visualvault.com/app/AASHTO/Default/documentviewer?DhID=224d1f19-37e6-ea11-a98a-ff9beffbfef8&hidemenu=true |title=Correspondence to Herbert M. Bates |last=Johnson |first=A. E. |date=November 12, 1958 |website=VisualVault |publisher=American Association of State Highway Officials |access-date=August 8, 2023}}

|spur_type=I

|spur_of=24

|direction_a=South

|terminus_a={{jct|state=TN|I|24|US|27}} in Chattanooga

|direction_b=North

|terminus_b={{jct|state=TN|US|27}} in Chattanooga

|counties=Hamilton

|previous_type=Sec

|previous_route=123

|next_type=Sec

|next_route=124

}}

Interstate 124 (I-124) is an unsigned designation for a short segment of a controlled-access highway located in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

During periods where this {{convert|2|mi|km|adj=mid|-long|spell=in}} segment of U.S. Route 27 (US 27) has been signed as I-124, it has served as a spur route of I-24 to downtown Chattanooga. The road segment has not been signed as I-124 since the late 1980s (it is marked on overhead signs and milemarkers as US 27),{{cite news|last=Jolley|first=Harmon|date=July 9, 2004|title=Where Do Our Interstate Highways Terminate?|url=http://www.chattanoogan.com/2004/7/9/52682/Where-Do-Our-Interstate-Highways-Terminate.aspx|work=The Chattanoogan|location=Chattanooga, Tennessee|access-date=16 January 2018}} and the Tennessee Department of Transportation official map no longer designates it as I-124, but some DOT publications still make reference to the designation, and its exit numbers remain.{{cite web|author=Staff|publisher=Tennessee Department of Transportation|url=http://www.tdot.state.tn.us/roadprojects/2007/|title=Fiscal Years 2008-2010 Transportation Improvement Program|date=May 1, 2007|access-date=March 4, 2012}}

Route description

The US 27 freeway diverges from I-24 just before the Moccasin Bend in the Tennessee River, continues north through downtown Chattanooga, and then across the Tennessee River as a limited-access freeway on the P. R. Olgiati Bridge. The river is the point at which the I-124 designation ends. After crossing the river, the freeway continues under the US 27 designation for another {{convert|30|mi|km}}, beyond which the spur continues under the State Route 111 (SR 111) designation for a further {{convert|20|mi}}.

The entire length of I-124 is part of the National Highway System, a system of routes determined to be the most important for the nation's economy, mobility, and defense.{{cite map |url=https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/national_highway_system/nhs_maps/tennessee/chattanooga_tn.pdf |title=National Highway System: Chattanooga, TN--GA |publisher=Federal Highway Administration |date=May 10, 2019 |access-date=August 15, 2019 }}

History

The route that is now I-124 was proposed in the 1950s by then-mayor of Chattanooga P.R. "Rudy" Olgiati to provide a secondary access across the Tennessee River and relieve congestion, which had developed on the Market Street and Walnut Street Bridges.{{Cite web|title = Why did they name it the "Ol' Johnny Bridge?" {{!}} David Carroll's Chattanooga Radio and TV|url = http://www.chattanoogaradiotv.com/general/why-did-they-name-it-the-ol-johnny-bridge/|website = www.chattanoogaradiotv.com| date=24 October 2013 |access-date = 2015-10-06}} The section of highway between Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard was built between 1955 and 1959. The southern portion, located between I-24 and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, was built between 1961 and 1963, when that corresponding section of I-24 was built. The interchange with I-24, known as the "Big Scramble", was reworked in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and the I-124 signage was removed at this time.

A major reconstruction project commenced in December 2015 to widen and modernize I-124, which reconstructed all interchanges, provided adequate shoulders and median dividers, widened the route to six lanes, and removed the S-curve at the 4th Street interchange. Originally scheduled to be completed by July 2019, the project ran into multiple setbacks, which delayed the completion until January 2021.{{cite web|title=US 27 Reconstruction in Downtown Chattanooga|work=TDOT|url= https://www.tn.gov/tdot/projects/region-2/us-27-reconstruction-in-downtown-chattanooga.html|publisher=Tennessee Department of Transportation|date=October 16, 2015|access-date=April 21, 2018}}

Exit list

{{jcttop|exit|state=TN|county=Hamilton|location=Chattanooga|length_ref=}}

{{TNint|exit

|mile=0.0

|exit=—

|type=concur

|road={{jct|country=USA|I|24|to2=to|I|75|name1=US 27 south/SR 27 east/SR 29 south|location1=Atlanta|location2=Knoxville|location3=Nashville|location4=Birmingham}}

|notes=Southern terminus; southern end of US 27 concurrency; southbound exit and northbound entrance

}}

{{TNint|exit

|mile=0.5

|exit=1A

|type=incomplete

|road=Carter Street, W Main Street

|notes=Partial interchange consisting of an exit from the northbound lanes and entrance to the southbound lanes

}}

{{TNint|exit

|mile=0.7

|mile2=1.2

|exit=1A/1B/1C

|road=Martin Luther King Boulevard (SR 316), 6th Street, 4th Street (SR 389)– Downtown

|notes=Signed as exit 1B (Martin Luther King Boulevard) and 1C (4th Street) from the northbound lanes; signed as exits 1B-C (4th Street, 6th Street, W Martin Luther King Boulevard) and exit 1A (E Martin Luther King Boulevard) from southbound lanes; no northbound access to 6th Street; unsigned SR 316 and SR 389.

}}

{{TNint|exit

|mile=1.7

|exit=—

|type=concur

|road={{jct|state=TN|US|27|dir1=north|name1=SR 27 west/SR 29 north|city1=Red Bank|city2=Dayton|city3=Signal Mountain}}

|notes=Continuation as US 27 at the Tennessee River, on the P. R. Olgiati Bridge

}}