40 west to 75 south (Knoxville, Chattanooga, Cleveland: construction, live in, suburban)

[rm10269123]

We will be visiting, coming from syracuse ny and are planning to take40 west to 75 south into chattanooga. I'd this a pretty easy route with not much congestion. Please advise. Thank you.

[Creekcat]

Originally Posted by rm10269123

Regarding route 40 west to 75 south, Can someone tell me how easy or congested this route is ? We will be visiting from syracuse ny and wd like input. Thank you

Usually a lot of construction in Knoxville, before 1-40 and 75 split. Pay attention and you should do well. If you should miss it and wind up on I-40 west, don't panic and backtrack. You can exit at Harriman and Rockwood exits then hit highway 27 South, it goes all the way to Chattanooga. More scenic but a lot slower.

[rm10269123]

Shouldn't we be going 40w? You said " if you should miss it"... and is the traffic very congested or is this route more scenic. How many lanes and is 75 a truck route?

[Bones]

Originally Posted by rm10269123

Shouldn't we be going 40w? You said " if you should miss it"... and is the traffic very congested or is this route more scenic. How many lanes and is 75 a truck route?

You will be going I-40/I-75 West..."IF" you miss the I-75 turnoff (just past exit 369) be in the left lanes, you can go on to exit 364 ( highway 321) and take that back down South to I-75.


Hwy 127 and 27 are more scenic, but very slow driving...

[rm10269123]

OK. So how is traffic that way is it congested or pretty busy? I want to try and avoid congestion if I can.

[shinestx]

Probably, the worst traffic you'll experience will be down I-81 in western Virginia, if you come that way. I-75 in Tennessee south of Knoxville is generally free flowing, with few large towns along the way. And it's only about 100 miles through that stretch, from the junction with I-40 all the way to the Georgia state line. It's two-lanes in each direction until you get south of Cleveland. You'll run into congestion as you get closer to Chattanooga, but it's not really bad as it does not come close to downtown. On the other hand, I-24 through downtown is consistently terrible, but if you are continuing on south, you won't have anything to worry about that highway. You'll want to be in the left lanes as you approach the state line.

[rm10269123]

Thank you! I'm terrible w direction so I'm hoping it will be a fairly easy drive. Although we plan on going 6.5 hours one day but not sure where the mid area of rest will be. ��

[rm10269123]

Ty! So it will just be 40 to 75 right into chattanooga? We will be leaving on a Saturday so hopefully we won't run into problems. Plus there will be a half way point, so I'll have to figure out where that will be since we will be driving only 6.5 hours that day.

[shinestx]

Is Chattanooga your destination for that leg? If so, then you may need to continue on a little bit onto I-24 west, depending on where you'll be staying in town. As noted above, Chattanooga's downtown runs right along I-24 about 5-6 miles west of the I-75/I-24 junction just north of the TN/GA state line. Regardless, traffic through downtown also depends on the time of day. If you'll be staying east of town, say in Ooltewah or Hamilton Place, those areas are right along I-75. Easy on/easy off. Although, those parts of town do not offer the so-called Chattanooga experience. They're just suburban commercial areas.

6.5 hours will get you well through Tennessee. I live in Chattanooga, and without heavy traffic, it takes me less than an hour and a half to get to the UT campus in Knoxville. I've driven from Chattanooga to the Va line in around 3.23 hours and made it all the way to Charlottesville, VA in 6.5 hours. Very doable with moderate traffic. As I mentioned, I-81 in VA does get quite congested, especially where it narrows to two lanes in each direction south of Roanoke. That's just because that highway is the main commercial artery for that region. Traffic tends to thin out south of the Tri-Cities (TN) and once you get to the I-81 terminus at I-40 east of Knoxville, the Interstate is anywhere from 3-5 lanes in each direction for about 50 miles all the way through Knoxville to the junction with I-75 south to Chattanooga.

Scenery is nice, as it takes you through the foothills and over the TN River. Lots of farms close to the highway, but the mountains are visible to the east. Terrain gets steeper as you travel toward Chattanooga.

[rm10269123]

I think we want to stay right in chattanooga if possible. We will be looking in diff areas, like ooltewah, red bank, soddy daisy with a realtor showing us around. So the closest we can get to downtown. I just want to find the simplest route without all the congestion. Because I'm not a fan of driving in heavy traffic��