U.S. Highway 23

U.S. Highway 23 is a long north-south U.S. highway between Mackinaw City, Michigan and Jacksonville, Florida. It is an original route (1926) which originally reached only so far south as Portsmouth, Ohio and has since been extended. The designation is more intact (for now) than that of many other routes in the north-central and mid-Atlantic states, at least for now.

Florida

US 23 uses the following unsigned state roads:

SR 139 from downtown Jacksonville to the 20th Street Expressway in Jacksonville

SR 15 from the 20th Street Expressway in Jacksonville to Georgia

Except in Jacksonville, US 23 is concurrent with US 1 south of Alma, Georgia.

Intersections with other U.S. and Interstate Highways

US 1/US 17 (Ocean Street (northbound, only used to the south)/Main Street (southbound only to the south))

I-95

US 1 begin US 1 concurrency

I-295

US 301 begin US 301 concurrency

Georgia state line

History

US 23 was extended into Florida along US 1 in 1951. When the 20th Street Expressway was built around downtown Jacksonville, US 1 was moved but US 23 remained. It has never changed its route in Florida, though at one time it was planned to extend south, maybe to Fort Myers via US 17, SR 19, SR 33, US 98, US 17, and SR 31.

Georgia

North Carolina

Tennessee

Virginia

Kentucky

US 23 passes through the following cities and counties:

Jenkins in Letcher County

Pikeville in Pike County

Prestonsburg in Floyd County

Paintsville, the county seat of Johnson County

Louisa in Lawrence County

Catlettsburg, Kentucky and Ashland in Boyd County (in which it begins to follow the Ohio River)

Russell, Flatwoods, Greenup, Raceland and South Shore in Greenup County

Country musicians from Kentucky, by county

In Kentucky, US 23 is designated as the "Country Music Highway", due to the fact that each county that the highway passes through is also home to a country music star.

Letcher County - Gary Stewart
Pike County - Patty Loveless; Dwight Yoakam
Floyd County -
Johnson County - Loretta Lynn; Crystal Gayle
Lawrence County - Ricky Scaggs
Boyd County - Wynonna Judd; Naomi Judd
Greenup County - Billy Ray Cyrus
Ohio
US-23 crosses the Ohio River from Kentucky and enters Portsmouth.
US-23 goes through the towns of Lucasville, Waverly, Piketon, Chillicothe, and Circleville, before reaching Columbus.
US-23 is mostly follows High Street in Columbus, which was the original route. However, it now bypasses the central business district and north Columbus neighborhoods by following the one-way pair 4th Street (northbound) and 3rd/Summit Street (southbound) between the downtown area and Hudson Street, and Indianola Avenue north before returning to its original course.
US-23 follows High Street northbound from Columbus, going through the towns of Worthington and Delaware.
North of Delaware, US-23 becomes a 4-lane divided highway before passing through Waldo and Marion on its way to Findlay.
At Findlay, US-23 meets divided Ohio State Highway 15, until it takes a different route at the Carey exit. SR-15 is designed to allow most traffic to bypass the northern strech of US-23 by offering a fast connection to Interstate 75.
US-23 continues north through Carey, Fostoria, and Woodville.
Atter Woodville, US-23 intersects with US-20, where it has a coincidental route for several miles.
US-23 then joins I-75 near Perrysburg, then follows I-475 around the west side of Toledo, passing through Sylvania before entering Michigan.

Note that US-23/I-475 has no direct interchange with the Ohio Turnpike (I-80 and I-90). One must (in 2004) use either surface routes in Holland, Maumee, or I-75 to get access to or from the turnpike.

Michigan

US-23 enters Michigan on a freeway north of Toledo, Ohio, concurrent with US-223; it is a more direct route than I-75, providing a bypass around Detroit. US-23 is freeway past Dundee, Milan, Ann Arbor (junction I-94 and M-14), Brighton (junction I-96) and Fenton.

South of Flint, US-23 joins I-75, staying with it past Saginaw and Bay City before splitting at Standish; M-13 provides a number for the old route. From Standish to US-23's north end at Mackinaw City, US-23 follows the shoreline of Saginaw Bay and Lake Huron, serving such lakeside communities as East Tawas, Michigan, Alpena, Michigan, Rogers City, Michigan and Cheboygan, Michigan. I-75 is a much more direct route for long-distance travel between Standish and Mackinaw City.

In 2004, US-23 between Standish and Mackinaw City was designated as the Sunrise Side Costal Highway.

Related U.S. Highways

US 123 US 223

Trivia

Dwight Yoakam's song Readin', Writin', and Route 23 is a tribute to the migration path that rural Kentuckians would take to find jobs in the stronger economic areas of Ohio and Michigan.

US-23 passes near the birthplace of U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes in Delaware, Ohio.

US-23 passes near the home of U.S. President Warren G. Harding in Marion, Ohio.