Tennessee State Route 396

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State Route 396 marker
State Route 396
Saturn Parkway
Route information
Maintained by TDOT
Length4.75 mi[1] (7.64 km)
Existed1989–present
Major junctions
West end SR 247 in Spring Hill
East end I-65 near Spring Hill
Location
CountiesMaury, Williamson
Highway system
← SR 395→ SR 397

State Route 396 (SR 396), commonly referred to as Saturn Parkway, is a 4.75-mile-long (7.64 km) primary state route located in Maury County and Williamson County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It provides direct access between the General Motors Spring Hill Manufacturing plant and Interstate 65, and takes its name from Saturn Corporation, a subsidiary of General Motors that operated the plant from 1990 to 2004 as its sole manufacturing facility.

Route description[]

SR 396, also known as Saturn Parkway, is a divided four-lane access-controlled facility its entire length, located in the city of Spring Hill in Middle Tennessee approximately 42 miles (68 km) south of Nashville. Its primary purpose is to provide access between the General Motors (GM) automotive assembly plant and Interstate 65.

SR 396 begins on the Northwest side of a partial cloverleaf interchange with U.S. Route 31 (US 31); separate ramps here provide access between US 31 northbound and southbound from both directions. Here, the roadway continues to the north for 1.3 mi (2.1 km) as an unnumbered surface street that retains the Saturn Parkway name, and provides the primary means of access to the GM plant. The highway then shifts east, and has a traditional diamond interchange with Kedron Road. A short distance later, it has another diamond interchange with Port Royal Road, before shifting slightly northward and reaching its eastern terminus with I-65 at a trumpet interchange along the Maury-Williamson County line.[2]

History[]

TDOT announced plans to build SR 396 on September 11, 1985, for a price of $29.3 million (equivalent to $60.3 million in 2019[3]) as part of an effort to improve infrastructure around the then-future Saturn Plant, which had been announced earlier that year.[4] The environmental impact statement for the route was approved by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) on October 17, 1986.[5] Contracts to construct SR 396 were awarded in November 1987,[6] and construction began in January 1988. The route opened on August 7, 1989; the final price tag was $37 million ($67.7 million in 2019[3]).[7] The GM plant began operations the next year.[8] TDOT considered using SR 396 for a section of Interstate 840, an outer southern bypass around Nashville, but planners ultimately chose a route approximately 6 miles (9.7 km) to the north.[9]

On May 30, 2018, work began on a 1.3 miles (2.1 km) long extension of the parkway from its western terminus at US 31 to SR 247 (Beechcroft Road).[10] While technically not part of SR 396, this extension retains the Saturn Parkway name, and was constructed to improve traffic flow around the north end of the GM plant, which was necessitated by the rapid growth of Spring Hill since the plant's opening. The project also involved modifying the interchange with US 31 and widening and intersection improvements on SR 247.[11] It was completed in October 2020.[12]

Major intersections[]

The entire route is in Spring Hill. All exits are unnumbered.

Countymi[2]kmDestinationsNotes
0.00.0 US 31 (SR 6) – Spring Hill, ColumbiaWestern terminus; road continues to the north as an unnumbered surface street that retains the Saturn Parkway name; partial cloverleaf interchange; separate exits (for US 31 north and US 31 south) eastbound
1.32.1Kedron RoadDiamond interchange
3.04.8Port Royal RoadDiamond interchange
Maury–Williamson
county line		4.0–
5.2		6.4–
8.4		 I-65 – Nashville, HuntsvilleTrumpet interchange; eastern terminus; I-65 exit 53
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References[]

  1. ^ TDOT Region 3 Pavement Condition Data
  2. ^ a b Google (June 29, 2018). "Tennessee State Route 396" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  3. ^ a b Thomas, Ryland; Williamson, Samuel H. (2020). "What Was the U.S. GDP Then?". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved September 22, 2020. United States Gross Domestic Product deflator figures follow the Measuring Worth series.
  4. ^ Sherman, Joe (1994). In the Rings of Saturn. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 320. ISBN 0-19-507244-8 – via Internet Archive.
  5. ^ Tennessee Department of Transportation (1986). Connector Hwy (proposed) from SR-6 to I-65, Serving Saturn Corporation Plant, Maury/Williamson Counties: Environmental Impact Statement (Report). Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved October 26, 2020 – via Google Books.
  6. ^ "Two Saturn parkway contracts awarded". The Tennessean. Nashville. November 25, 1987. p. 6-A – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ Barlow, Randy (August 8, 1989). "Saturn Parkway Officially Open; Final Work Will Take 6–8 Weeks". The Tennessean. Nashville. p. 2-B. Retrieved August 23, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ Sherman (1994), p. 321
  9. ^ Ease, Jim (February 13, 1990). "I-840 headed across land of McWherter backer". The Tennessean. p. 1-B. Retrieved October 24, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Saturn Parkway extension, Beechcroft Road widening to begin May 30". Williamson Herald. Franklin, Tennessee. May 17, 2018. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
  11. ^ "State Route 396 Saturn Parkway Extension". tn.gov. Tennessee Department of Transportation. Archived from the original on July 12, 2018. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
  12. ^ "Saturn Parkway Extension". springhilltn.org. Spring Hill, Tennessee Government. November 13, 2020. Archived from the original on February 25, 2021. Retrieved June 22, 2021.

External links[]

Route map:

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