Georgia State Route 59

This article is about the current state highway. For the Interstate Highway, see Interstate 59 in Georgia.

State Route 59 (SR 59) is a 32.3-mile-long (52.0 km) state highway that travels southwest-to-northeast through portions of Jackson, Banks, Franklin, and Hart counties in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Georgia. The highway connects Commerce with SR 77 near the shore of Lake Hartwell, via Carnesville and Lavonia. It closely parallels Interstate 85 (I-85).

State Route 59
SR 59 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by GDOT
Length	30.2 mi[1] (48.6 km)
Major junctions
South end	US 441 / US 441 Bus. / SR 15 / SR 15 Alt. in Commerce
Major intersections	SR 106 / SR 145 in Carnesville
North end	SR 77 near Parkertown
Location
Country	United States
State	Georgia
Counties	Jackson, Banks, Franklin, Hart
Highway system
Georgia State Highway System Interstate US State Special
← I-59 → SR 60

Route description

SR 59 begins at an intersection with U.S. Route 441 (US 441)/SR 15 (Homer Road) in the northeastern part of Commerce within Jackson County. This intersection also marks the northern terminus of US 441 Business/SR 15 Alternate, which take the Homer Road name. South of here, US 441/SR 15 are known as Veterans Memorial Parkway. Almost immediately, SR 59 enters Banks County. The only major intersections in the county are with the eastern terminus of SR 164 and the southern terminus of SR 63. In Franklin County, it intersects SR 51 before meeting the eastern terminus of SR 198. Less than 1 mile (1.6 km) later, the highway intersects SR 106, which travels concurrent with it into Carnesville. In the city, SR 145 joins the concurrency for just over 1 mile (1.6 km). At the end of the concurrency, SR 59 splits off to continue its northeast routing. In Lavonia, SR 59 intersects SR 17, before meeting the northern terminus of SR 77 Connector. About two miles (3.2 km) later, the road enters Hart County. It intersects SR 77 and the state highway ends.^[1] The road continues to the northeast and curves to the east before ending along the northwestern shore of Lake Hartwell.^[2]

History

Before the construction of Lake Hartwell, SR 59 continued into South Carolina as South Carolina Highway 59 (SC 59). With the I-85 bridge less than 1 mile (1.6 km) away from the old crossing, the states had no need to directly reconnect the roads. SR 59 is not concurrent with I-85 on either side of the lake and the two highways do not officially connect.

The section of SR 59 between SR 77 and the shoreline of Lake Hartwell was transferred to county maintenance between 1990 and 1993.^[3]

Major intersections

County	Location	mi[1]	km	Destinations	Notes
Jackson	Commerce	0.0	0.0	US 441 / SR 15 (Veterans Memorial Parkway) / US 441 Bus. south / SR 15 Alt. south (Homer Road) – Athens, Homer, Commerce	Southern terminus of SR 59; northern terminus of US 441 Bus. and SR 15 Alt.
Banks	​	3.9	6.3	SR 164 west / Sims Bridge Road east – Homer	Eastern terminus of SR 164; western terminus of Sims Bridge Road
	​	5.1	8.2	SR 63 north to I-85 – Toccoa	Southern terminus of SR 63
Franklin	​	11.7	18.8	SR 51 (Sandy Cross Road) – Homer, Royston
	​	14.2	22.9	SR 198 west / Nelms Road east – Cornelia	Eastern terminus of SR 198; western terminus of Nelms Road
	​	16.0	25.7	SR 320 north to I-85 – Toccoa	Southern terminus of SR 320
	Carnesville	16.4	26.4	SR 106 south (Athens Road) – Ila, Athens	Southern end of SR 106 concurrency
		16.8	27.0	SR 145 south (Hull Avenue) – Health department	Southern end of SR 145 concurrency
		18.2	29.3	SR 106 north / SR 145 north to I-85	Northern end of SR 106 and SR 145 concurrencies
	Lavonia	26.3	42.3	SR 17 (Augusta Road south / Jones Street north) – Royston, Toccoa
		26.5	42.6	SR 77 Conn. east (Vickery Street) – Hartwell, Hart State Park	Western terminus of SR 77 Conn.
		27.5	44.3	SR 328 north (Gumlog Road) – Toccoa	Southern terminus of SR 328
Hart	​	30.2	48.6	SR 77 (Providence Church Road south / Whitworth Road north) / Knox Bridge Crossing Road east to I-85 – Hartwell, Hartwell Res., Anderson, SC	Northern terminus of SR 59; western terminus of Knox Bridge Crossing Road; Knox Bridge Crossing Road is former SR 59 north.
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus

See also

• Georgia (U.S. state) portal
• U.S. roads portal