Interstate 75 | ||||
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Route information | ||||
Maintained by TDOT | ||||
Length: | 161.86 mi (260.49 km) | |||
Existed: | 1963 – present | |||
Major junctions | ||||
South end: | I‑75 at Georgia state line | |||
I-24 in Chattanooga I-40 in Knoxville I-640 in Knoxville I-275 in Knoxville |
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North end: | I-75 at Kentucky state line | |||
Location | ||||
Counties: | Hamilton, Bradley, McMinn, Monroe, Loudon, Knox, Anderson, Campbell | |||
Highway system | ||||
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In the U.S. state of Tennessee, Interstate 75 (I-75) runs from Chattanooga to Jellico by way of Knoxville. Interstate 75 enters the East Tennessee region following the Tennessee Valley from Georgia, all the way through Knoxville to near Rocky Top, then climbs into the Cumberland Mountains before crossing over into Kentucky at Jellico.
Interstate 75 enters Tennessee at the southern edge of Chattanooga. It then angles northeasterly past Cleveland, Athens, and Sweetwater. On the far western edge of Knoxville, it becomes concurrent with Interstate 40, and the two routes continue northeasterly through western Knoxville before Interstate 75 departs, bypassing downtown Knoxville before turning to the north again and continuing through largely rural mountain terrain into Kentucky.
Interstate 75 originally continued into downtown Knoxville then turned to the north at Malfunction Junction, following what is now signed as Interstate 275. When the western section of Interstate 640 was completed in 1982, Interstate 75 was moved to overlap the auxiliary route to divert through traffic away from downtown in preparation for the 1982 World's Fair. This concurrency is somewhat unusual in that the exit numbers and mile markers follow the auxiliary route I-640 instead of Interstate 75 mileage.