U.S. Route 79 in Tennessee

From I-55, US 79 continues to follow US 61/64/70 (SR 1) on E.H. Crump Boulevard. US 64/70/79 then turns north onto Danny Thomas Boulevard northward, then it makes a right turn onto Union Avenue, where US 51 (SR 3) gets involved in the concurrency until Bellevue Boulevard. US 64/70/79 then joins SR 277 northward until the U.S. routes turn onto Summer Avenue eastward. US 64 splits from US 70/79 at their intersection with SR 15 in Bartlett, in northeastern Shelby County.

US 79 continues to run concurrently with US 70 (SR 1) from here until Brownsville, in Haywood County. In Brownsville, US 70/79 joins the Ah Gray/C.A. Rawls Bypass with SR 19. The intersection with Anderson Avenue marks the beginning of US 79's long concurrency with SR 76, while the overlaps with SR 19 and US 70/SR 1 both end at the intersections with Jefferson Street and East Main Street, respectively. US 79/SR 76 begins a concurrency with US 70A at that point.[1]

US 79/70A (SR 76) continues northeastward to have major junctions with US 412, US 45W and US 45E in the towns of Bells, Humboldt, and Milan, respectively. US 70A becomes a standalone route in Atwood. US 79 continues northeast to McKenzie and Paris. US 79 is the main thoroughfare accessing Paris Landing State Park before crossing the Tennessee River.[2][3]

After entering Stewart County, US 79 becomes known as Donelson Parkway, and forms a portion of the southern boundary of the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area before entering Dover, where it crosses the Cumberland River, and then continues eastward to Clarksville. It then becomes known as Dover Road between the Stewart-Montgomery County line and the city of Clarksville.[4]

US 79 then runs concurrently with US 41A on the northwestern side of Clarksville, and it then turns left to bypass the downtown area, while beginning its concurrency with SR 13 for the remainder of its path to the Kentucky state line. Wilma Rudolph Boulevard is the name given to the portion of U.S. Route 79 between the Red River (Lynnwood-Tarpley) bridge near the Kraft Street intersection and I-24’s exit 4 interchange. This section of Highway 79 in Clarksville was previously called the Guthrie Highway, for nearby Guthrie, Kentucky, but in 1994, the name was changed to honor Wilma Rudolph, an Olympic runner from Clarksville, who won three gold medals in the 1960 Rome Summer Olympic Games in Italy.[5]

The highway then enters Todd County, Kentucky after exiting the city of Clarksville. The state line coincides with the northern terminus of SR 13.

U.S. 79 runs concurrently with the following interstate and U.S. routes:

• I-55/US 61/US 64 from Arkansas state line to Exit 12,
• US 70 from Arkansas state line to Brownsville
• US 51 in downtown Memphis
• US 70A from Brownsville to Atwood, and
• US 41A (Providence Blvd.) from west Clarksville to downtown Clarksville

Additionally, all areas of US 79 run concurrently with Tennessee state routes throughout its course through the state as “hidden,” or secret designations as the state routes are not signed. They include:

• SR 1 from Memphis to Brownsville (in association with US 70)
• SR 3 in downtown Memphis (in association with US 51)
• SR 59 from Braden to Mason
• SR 76 from Brownsville to Clarksville
• SR 77 from Milan to Atwood
• SR 12 in Clarksville (in association with US 41A)
• SR 48 through Clarksville
• SR 13 from downtown Clarksville to the Kentucky state line