Interstate 59 (I-59) is a part of the Interstate Highway System that runs 445.23 miles (716.53km) from Slidell, Louisiana, to near Wildwood, Georgia, just outside Chattanooga, Tennessee. In the U.S. state of Georgia, I-59 travels 20.67 miles (33.27km) from the Alabama state line south of Rising Fawn to its northern terminus at I-24 near Wildwood, entirely within Dade County in the far northwest corner of the state. Most of I-59's route passes through rural and mountainous terrain, with the only city it serves being Trenton. However, it is close to Chattanooga, Tennessee, and is an important highway in the Chattanooga metropolitan area. I-59 parallels the older U.S. Route 11 (US11) corridor with indirect access via interchanges. Beyond I-59's northern terminus into Tennessee, I-81 takes over its role as the parallel Interstate Highway for US11, and is connected to I-59 via I-24, I-75, and I-40. For internal Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) purposes, I-59 carries the hidden designation of State Route 406 (SR406). The entire route of I-59 in Georgia is known as Korean War Veterans Memorial Highway.
Of the four states which I-59 traverses, the segment in Georgia is the second-shortest, behind the Louisiana segment. I-59 was an original Interstate Highway allocated to Georgia by the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956. The first segment of I-59 in Georgia was an 8.1-mile (13.0km) segment from Trenton to I-24, opened in 1968. The second and final segment, with a length of 11.8 miles (19.0km), connected Trenton to the Alabama state line and was finished in 1971.
Route description
Like all other Interstate Highways in Georgia, I-59 is a part of the National Highway System for its entire length in the state. It is maintained by the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT), along with all Interstate, U.S., and state highways in the state. GDOT assigns I-59 the unsignedState Route 406 (SR406) designation for departmental purposes. The Interstate carries one of the lowest volumes of traffic in Georgia, with the highest annual average daily traffic in 2025 being approximately 25,000vehicles at the I-24 interchange. The lowest amount was approximately 15,600vehicles near the Alabama state line.
In Georgia, I-59 runs entirely in Dade County, the northwestern-most county in Georgia in the Cumberland Plateau region and the Chattanooga metropolitan area. It is situated in a deep valley between Sand Mountain on the west and Lookout Mountain on the east. I-59 enters Georgia from DeKalb County, Alabama, into the Eastern Time Zone. Here, it parallels U.S. Route11 (US11). Unusually, I-59 does not have a rest area or welcome center for travelers coming into the state, unlike most Interstates. Skirting along the foothills of the mountains, I-59 makes a gradual curve to the north and runs along the slopes of Fox Mountain. It then curves slightly northwest and reaches its first interchange with Deer Head Cove Road at milepost4, providing access to Rising Fawn and a small sprinkle of development. Turning back north and then to the northeast, I-59 crosses Crawfish Creek before curving slightly northeast and then north again. The Interstate passes the Southeast Lineman Training Center as it enters the city of Trenton. Entering small amounts of development again, I-59 reaches its next interchange with SR136 (White Oak Gap Road) for downtown Trenton as well as access to the welcome center and Cloudland Canyon State Park. The Interstate bypasses Trenton to the west and immediately crosses Town Creek leaving the interchange.
From here, I-59 turns northeast again, leaving Trenton and entering rural areas once more. It makes a brief curve north and slightly descends the incline. It crosses two streams in brief succession before turning northeast once again, curving along the slopes of Sand Mountain, and reaching its final interchange with Slygo Road and the unincorporated community of New England at a diamond interchange. Continuing in the northeast direction, I-59 approaches Slygo Valley, paralleling Slygo Road to the east for a couple more miles whilst passing underneath Dugan Loop Road. Before long, I-59 slowly descends once again into the bottom of Lookout Valley and the foothills of Lookout Mountain where it reaches its northern terminus at a full wye interchange with I-24 at the southern base of Raccoon Mountain near the Wildwood community. This interchange is also located about one mile (1.6km) south of the Tennessee state line where I-24 briefly forays into Georgia, and is about 10 miles (16km) southwest of downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee.
History
1955 proposed routing for the Interstate Highways through Chattanooga. I-59 (bottom left) continues into Tennessee and terminates with I-24 west of downtown Chattanooga in this map.
A freeway between Birmingham, Alabama, and Chattanooga, Tennessee, first appeared in a 1947 plan produced by the Public Roads Administration of the now-defunct Federal Works Agency. Early concepts had the highway that became I-59 continue into Tennessee to meet what became I-24 in Chattanooga. By January 1957, a decision was made for I-24 to dip into Georgia to follow a natural mountain pass and avoid crossing Raccoon Mountain to the north, and for I-59 to terminate with I-24 here. This allowed I-59 to reach I-24 without crossing Lookout Mountain. I-59 was part of the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, the program which designated the Interstate Highways around the nation. Its numbering was approved on August 14, 1957. On January 17, 1963, the federal government would pay approximately $94million of the costs launched in the Highway Act by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to link all of the cities in the nation with Interstate Highways. Of these projects, one of them included the stretch of I-59 from the Alabama state line to Trenton, at a distance of approximately 11.38 miles (18.31km) was under construction. This stretch had a cost of approximately $6.3million and an estimated completion date of two years later.
The contract for the 8.1-mile (13.0km) section between SR143 (now SR136) in Trenton and I-24 was let in late October 1965. On September 10, 1968, this section opened to traffic, along with the interchange with I-24 and the section of I-24 east of this interchange into Tennessee. This raised the number of miles in Georgia's Interstate system to 612 miles (985km) that were open to traffic. In February 1968, a contract for the 11.38-mile (18.31km) section between the Alabama state line and SR143 was awarded. Emory C. Parrish, executive assistant to the state highway director, said that the section was less important that other Interstate Highways, but that they chose to build it at the time due to pressure from the Bureau of Public Roads. The project had an estimated cost of approximately $9.8million. A contract for final work on this section was let in late May 1970. On October 25, 1971, the State Highway Department announced that this section was finished and opened to traffic, completing the Georgia segment of I-59 as a whole.
The interchange with I-24 was modified in a project between February 2002 and August 2004 that replaced the bridges and extended the auxiliary lanes to reduce merging hazards. In 2012, the Georgia General Assembly designated I-59 in the state as "Korean War Veterans Memorial Highway".
I-59 at the Alabama state line south of Rising Fawn
SR 136 in Trenton
I-24 near Wildwood
