Georgia State Route 59

State Route 59
Route information
Maintained by GDOT
Length:	32.3 mi[1] (52.0 km)
Major junctions
Southwest end:	US 441 / US 441 Bus. / SR 15 / SR 15 Alt. in Commerce
Northeast end:	Lake Hartwell
Location
Counties:	Jackson, Banks, Franklin, Hart
Highway system
Georgia State Routes Interstate U.S. State Former ← I‑59 SR 60 →

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

Route description

SR 59 begins at an intersection with 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 designation. South of here, US 441/SR 15 are known as Veterans Memorial Parkway. Almost immediately, SR 59 crosses into 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 town, 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 2 miles (3.2 km) later, the road crosses into Hart County. It intersects SR 77. It continues to the northeast and curves to the east to meet its northern terminus, along the northwestern shore of Lake Hartwell.^[1]

History

Before the construction of Lake Hartwell, SR 59 continued into South Carolina as South Carolina Highway 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.

Major intersections

County	Location	mi[1]	km	Destinations	Notes
Jackson	Commerce	0.0	0.0	US 441 / SR 15 (Veterans Memorial Parkway/Homer Road) / US 441 Bus. south / SR 15 Alt. south (Homer Road) – Athens, Cornelia	Southern terminus
Banks	​	3.9	6.3	SR 164 north – Homer	Southern terminus of SR 164
	Hudson River	4.9	7.9	Unnamed bridge	Crossing over the Hudson River
	​	5.1	8.2	SR 63 north – Toccoa	Southern terminus of SR 63
Franklin	​	11.7	18.8	SR 51 (Sandy Cross Road) – Homer, Sandy Cross
	​	14.2	22.9	SR 198 west – Unity	Eastern terminus of SR 198
	Middle Fork Broad River	15.0	24.1	Unnamed bridge	Crossing over the Middle Fork Broad River
	​	16.0	25.7	SR 320 north – Toccoa	Southern terminus of SR 320
	Carnesville	16.4	26.4	SR 106 south (Athens Road) – Ila	Southern end of SR 106 concurrency
		16.8	27.0	SR 145 south (Hull Avenue) – Franklin Springs	Southern end of SR 145 concurrency
		18.2	29.3	SR 106 north / SR 145	Northern end of SR 106 & SR 145 concurrencies
	North Fork Broad River	20.9	33.6	Unnamed bridge	Crossing over the North Fork Broad River
	Lavonia	26.3	42.3	SR 17 (Jones Street) – Royston, Toccoa
		26.5	42.6	SR 77 Conn. south (Vickery Street)	Northern terminus of SR 77 Connector
		27.5	44.3	SR 328 north (Gumlog Road) – Avalon	Southern terminus of SR 328
Hart	​	30.3	48.8	SR 77 (Providence Church Road/Whitworth Road) – Hartwell
	Lake Hartwell	32.3	52.0		Northern terminus
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

References