U.S. Route 31W

Tennessee US 31W begins in Nashville, at an interchange with Ellington Parkway and US 31 and US 31E. The route continues west as Spring Street, concurrent with US 41/US 431/SR 11. The four highways continue north onto Dickerson Pike, closely paralleling Interstate 24 (I-24) through Nashville. US 431 turns onto Trinity Lane, while US 31W, US 41 and SR 11 continue north, away from I-24. The roadway has an interchange with I-65 and SR 155 (Briley Parkway) before an intersection with SR 45 in Bellshire Terrace. The highway passes through Goodlettsville, where US 31W splits from US 41/SR 11, and crosses I-65; it also passes through the cities of Millersville, White House, and the western edge of Portland. Before it enters Kentucky, it junctions the recently rerouted SR 109. ==History==

Most of US 31W's current route was part of the old Dixie Highway from the National Auto Trail program, the predecessor to the United States Numbered Highways system. Many of the cities through which US 31W traverses still give it a local street name of "Dixie Highway" or "Dixie Avenue." Some portions date back further, to the Louisville and Nashville Turnpike, which began construction in the 1830s. Until 1926, the route in Tennessee from US 41E to the Kentucky state line was signed as State Route 79 (SR 79); it was resigned as SR 41 until the US 31W designation was established in 1931, but the SR 41 remaining as an unsigned, hidden route. The route from the state line northward to US 68 in Bowling Green was signed as Kentucky Route 73 from 1929 until 1931, when the US 31W designation was established. US 31W in Indiana US 31W once terminated in Sellersburg, Indiana. It went into New Albany, Indiana, crossing the Kentucky & Indiana Terminal Bridge into Louisville, concurrent with U.S. Route 150. When the K&I Terminal Bridge was closed to traffic in 1979, US 31W and US 150 were rerouted onto the Sherman Minton Bridge, being concurrent with Interstate 64 until Exit 121. In 1980, AASHTO truncated both termini of US 31E and US 31W to Louisville. In Indiana, US 31W was replaced by SR 311. ==31W Treasure Hunt==

The 31W Treasure Hunt is an outdoor second-hand sale held annually for three days beginning the second Thursday in September. It takes place along the alignment of U.S. Route 31W in its entirety from Nashville to Louisville. ==Major intersections==

Tennessee State Route 41 State Route 41 (SR 41) runs as a secret, or hidden designation, throughout US 31W's routing from the US 41 (SR 11) junction in Goodlettsville to the SR 259 junction at the Kentucky state line near Mitchellville. Bowling Green bypass From the 1950s to the 1980s, a bypass route of US 31W ran around Bowling Green, Kentucky. It was replaced by rerouting US 31W onto the bypass. Elizabethtown bypass U.S. Route 31W By-Pass is a four-lane expressway in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. It starts at an at-grade intersection with Kentucky Route 1136, bypasses the west side of town and it ends at another at-grade intersection with US 31W on the northern side of Elizabethtown. The southern end can be reached via either KY 1136 on the south side, or following the Western Kentucky Parkway from the at-grade intersection with US 31W/KY 61to the interchange after the WK Parkway/I-65 junction. Major intersections include: • Kentucky Route 1136 (Glendale Road) • Western Kentucky Parkway (exit 135) • U.S. Route 62 (Leitchfield Road) • Kentucky Route 361 (Patriot Parkway) • U.S. Route 31W (Dixie Highway) Elizabethtown Truck Route U.S. Route 31W Truck is a truck route in Elizabethtown. Its component highways include the Wendell H. Ford Western Kentucky Parkway west from the US 31W/KY 61 junction to exit 135, and the final of the US 31W Bypass from the WK Parkway exit 135 interchange to US 31W on the north side of town. West Point Business Route U.S. Route 31W Business is a business route located in West Point, Kentucky, in northern Hardin County. It is long and does not intersect any other highways outside of the main alignment of US 31W (which runs concurrently with US 60 in that area). ==See also==