Tennessee State Route 396

Route description

SR 396, most commonly known as Saturn Parkway, is a divided four-lane access-controlled facility its entire length. It is located within the southern part of the city of Spring Hill in Middle Tennessee approximately 42 mi south of Nashville. SR 396 is one of few non-Interstate Highways in the state with a 70 mph speed limit, which is allowed on all controlled-access highways in Tennessee.

SR 396 officially begins in the center of a three-level combination interchange with U.S. Route 31 (US 31) southwest of the business district of Spring Hill and west of the GM plant. This interchange contains two loop ramps and one flyover ramp, and utilizes separate ramps to provide access to and from US 31 northbound and southbound from both directions. Beyond this interchange, the roadway continues to the north for 1.3 mi 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, where the speed limit increases from 55 to 70 mph, and has a diamond interchange with Kedron Road directly south of the Spring Hill Battlefield. A short distance later, it has a 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.

History

The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) announced plans to build SR 396 on September 11, 1985, for a price of $29.3 million (equivalent to $ in ) as part of an effort to improve infrastructure around the then-future Saturn Plant, which had been announced three months prior. At the time, Spring Hill was a small agricultural community of approximately 1,000 residents. The environmental impact statement for the route was approved by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) on October 17, 1986. Contracts to construct SR 396 were awarded in November 1987, and construction began the following month. The parkway opened on August 7, 1989, in a ribbon-cutting ceremony officiated by then-Governor Ned McWherter. The final construction cost of the parkway was $37 million (equivalent to $ in ). The GM plant began operations the following year. 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 mi to the north.

Since the route's completion and the opening of the GM plant, Spring Hill has grown to contain more than 50,000 residents and continues to rapidly expand, necessitating improvements to the Saturn Parkway and other roads in the area. On May 30, 2018, work began on a 1.3 mi long extension of the parkway from its western terminus at US 31 to SR 247 (Beechcroft Road). 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. The project also involved modifying the interchange with US 31 and widening and intersection improvements on SR 247. It was completed in September 2020. In 2019, traffic signals were installed at the interchange with Port Royal Road. On October 29, 2021, a ceremony was held designating the bridges over Kedron Road as the J.B. Napier and Shirley Napier Memorial Bridge, in honor of a former state representative and his wife.

Major intersections

Notes

References

References

1. Tennessee Department of Transportation Long Range Planning Division Office of Data Visualization. (1997). "Spring Hill". [[Tennessee Department of Transportation]].
3. . (February 20, 2016). ["Timeline: GM plant in Spring Hill"](https://www.columbiadailyherald.com/story/news/local/2016/02/20/timeline-gm-plant-in-spring/25684512007/). *[[Daily Herald (Columbia, Tennessee)*.
4. "Transportation Data Management System". MS2.
5. Sherman, Joe. (1994). "In the Rings of Saturn". Oxford University Press.
6. Hilman, Randy. (September 12, 1985). "'Scenic Parkway' To Connect Saturn". The Tennessean.
7. {{harvp. Sherman. 1994
8. Tennessee Department of Transportation. (1986). "Connector Hwy (proposed) from SR-6 to I-65, Serving Saturn Corporation Plant, Maury/Williamson Counties: Environmental Impact Statement". Federal Highway Administration.
9. (November 25, 1987). "Two Saturn parkway contracts awarded". [[The Tennessean]].
10. . (August 6, 1989). ["McWherter will clip Saturn road ribbon"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/111831164/mcwherter-will-clip-saturn-road-ribbon/). *The Commercial Appeal*.
11. Barlow, Randy. (August 8, 1989). "Saturn Parkway Officially Open; Final Work Will Take 6–8 Weeks". The Tennessean.
12. {{harvp. Sherman. 1994
13. Ease, Jim. (February 13, 1990). "I-840 headed across land of McWherter backer". The Tennessean.
14. . (May 17, 2018). ["Saturn Parkway extension, Beechcroft Road widening to begin May 30"](http://www.williamsonherald.com/communities/spring_hill/saturn-parkway-extension-beechcroft-road-widening-to-begin-may/article_26d42516-5a1c-11e8-8fe4-67e88885f498.html). *[[Williamson Herald]]*.
15. . ["State Route 396 Saturn Parkway Extension"](https://www.tn.gov/tdot/projects/region-3/sr-396-saturn-pkwy-ext.html). *Tennessee Department of Transportation*.
16. (November 13, 2020). "Saturn Parkway Extension". Spring Hill, Tennessee Government.
17. . (). ["Saturn Parkway Extension"](https://www.superiorconstruction.com/what-we-build/saturn-parkway-extension/). *Superior Construction*.
18. Willis, Alexander. (March 12, 2019). "Traffic signals for Port Royal Road and Saturn Parkway to begin construction this spring". Williamson Home Page.
19. . (November 5, 2021). ["Bridge named in honor of J.B and Shirley Napier"](https://www.mainstreetmaury.com/news/bridge-named-in-honor-of-j-b-and-shirley-napier/article_1bc6b74e-3dec-11ec-95a3-cb39728a061c.html). *Main Street Maury*.
20. "Tennessee State Route 396".