page_title: Interstate 26
section_title: Tennessee
hierarchical_section_title: Interstate 26 / Route description / Tennessee
caption_attribution_description: The Bald Mountains, viewed from Interstate 26 near Erwin, Tennessee, United States.
context_page_description: Interstate 26 is a nominally east–west main route of the Interstate Highway System in the Southeastern United States. I-26 runs from the junction of U.S. Route 11W and US 23 in Kingsport, Tennessee, generally southeastward to US 17 in Charleston, South Carolina. The portion from Mars Hill, North Carolina, east to I-240 in Asheville, North Carolina, has signs indicating FUTURE I-26 because the highway does not yet meet all of the Interstate Highway standards. A short realignment as an improvement in the freeway was also planned in Asheville, but has been postponed indefinitely due to North Carolina's budget shortfalls. Northwards from Kingsport, US 23 continues north to Portsmouth, Ohio, as the Corridor B of the Appalachian Development Highway System, and beyond to Columbus, as the Corridor C. In conjunction with the Columbus–Toledo, Ohio, corridor formed by I-75, US 23, and State Route 15, I-26 forms part of a mostly high-speed four-or-more-lane highway from the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Coast at Charleston, South Carolina. There are no official plans for extensions north of Kingsport, Tennessee.
context_section_description: The exit numbers in Tennessee were formerly numbered backward—increasing from east (physically south) to west (physically north)—because this highway was formerly signed north–south as US 23 (and I-181). Although this is consistent with the south-to-north numbering conventions, this exit numbering was changed on all 284 signs along I-26 to be consistent with the rest of the east-to-west-numbered highway in March 2007. The remaining I-181 signs north of I-81 were also replaced with I-26 signs at that time.
  For its entire length in Tennessee, I-26 shares the route with U.S. Route 23. The route is named the James H. Quillen Parkway, after Jimmy Quillen, a past member of the U.S. House of Representatives for Tennessee.
  In Tennessee, US 23 runs south from the Virginia state line for 1 mile (1.6 km) to Kingsport. I-26 begins at the junction of US 23 with U.S. Route 11W (which is locally named Stone Drive), northwest of the city. After about 1,000 yards (910 m), I-26 crosses the South Fork Holston River before swinging around to a generally south-east path through Sullivan County. It reaches its major interchange with Interstate 81 at exit 8A, southwest of Colonial Heights.
  Shortly after entering Washington County, it reaches the northwest part of Johnson City, and also serves as a local transit route as it makes its way around the north and eastern parts of the city. It begins to travel through more obviously mountainous terrain before turning to travel in a south direction. Entering Carter County briefly, it passes exit 27 before entering the Cherokee National Forest and Unicoi County. From this point, it passes through part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, first the Unaka Range and later, as it passes Erwin, Tennessee between exits 34 and 40, the Bald Mountains. It meets the Nolichucky River just after mile marker 38 and travels along its southeast bank before crossing it immediately before exit 40.
  The remainder of I-26 in Tennessee passes through a sparsely populated area, at elevations of above 1,800 feet (550 m), before reaching the North Carolina state line.
caption: I-26 approaching the Bald Mountains near Erwin
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