End of US highway 82

View a map showing this route.

Photo credits: Andy Field; Alan Hamilton; J.P. Nasiatka; Steven Nelson; Alex Nitzman
Additional research: Adam Froehlig

Approx. time period East terminus West terminus
1932-1934 Columbus, MS Texarkana, AR
1934-1949 Tuscaloosa, AL Lubbock, TX
1949-1958 Waycross, GA Lubbock, TX
1958-1961 Midway, GA Lubbock, TX
1961-1989 (near Midway, GA) Las Cruces, NM
1989-1990 (near Brunswick, GA) Las Cruces, NM
1990-present (near Brunswick, GA) (near Alamogordo, NM)

US 82 was commissioned in 1932 to begin in Texarkana AR - my best guess is that it would've come in on 9th Street, ending at Hickory Street, where it junctioned with US 67 and US 71:

Google Maps Street View, 2008

My theory is that US 82 would've come to this point and ended. From Texarkana, US 82 ran east to Columbus MS:

Nelson, July 2006

That's looking east on Main Street, or what is now MS hwy. 182. US 45 came in from the left, so US 82 ended here.

In 1934 the east end of US 82 was extended either to US 43 at Northport AL (where it would've ended at the 5th Street/Rice Mine Road/Bridge Avenue intersection, just east of today's 5th St interchange on US 43/AL 69), or else more likely it was co-signed with US 43 to end at US 11 in Tuscaloosa. The photo below was taken at that intersection:

Field/Nitzman, Aug. 2002

That's looking east on University Boulevard. Originally US 11 followed the route of what is now AL hwy. 215: ahead was northbound, and southbound was to the right on Greensboro Avenue. To the left on Greensboro was probably the east beginning of US 82 (Greensboro aligns with a now-dismantled bridge that once connected with Bridge Av in Northport).

The east end of US 82 was further extended to Waycross GA in 1950. The photo below is looking east on Albany Avenue:

Nelson, June 2006

Not sure what's up with the signage - like US 84, US 1 and US 23 also go both directions on Plant Avenue. At any rate, US 82 once came to this point and ended here.

The east end of US 82 was extended again in 1958, this time to Midway GA. I-95 wasn't built through the area until the late 1970s, so for about 20 years US 82 terminated at its junction with US 17. The shot below shows that intersection:

Nasiatka, July 2004

That was once the perspective of a driver at the east end of US 82. Later the route was extended about four miles ahead, to I-95's interchange 76 (still considered Midway - you can view photos from there on this page). Then in 1989, a new bypass around Waycross GA was completed. J.P. explains that - as a result of the new road alignments there - it made sense to switch the US 82 and US 84 designations east of Waycross. As far as I can tell, prior to the re-designation, US 82 and US 84 didn't actually intersect in Waycross. But now the "ways" actually do "cross" - and the east end of US 82 is now near Brunswick (you can view photos from there on this page).

Also in 1934, the west end of US 82 was extended to Lubbock TX; you can view photos from there on this page.

In 1961 the west end of US 82 was extended to Las Cruces NM. It was co-signed with US 70 all the way west from Alamogordo - a distance of about 70 miles. The two routes came into Las Cruces via Main Street. The signage below used to be posted at the junction with I-25...

Hamilton, 2000

...but Patrick Valdez wrote in 2004 to say, after this interchange was redesigned, the new signs no longer mention US 82. The USGS quad (dated 1976) appears to show the junction where US 82 ended:

That indicates US 82 ended at Picacho Avenue, where it met US 80/180. The photo below is looking east on Picacho:

Nelson, Nov. 2005

Here eastbound US 70 traffic is directed left on Main, and until 1990 that would've been the west beginning of US 82 (eastbound US 80 and US 180 both turned to the right ahead).

In 1990 the US 82 designation was truncated back to its junction with US 54/US 70, just north of Alamogordo. However - judging from the signs in some of the photos below - one could easily get the impression that US 82 still continues to Las Cruces. This first shot is heading south on US 54/US 70 into Alamogordo:

Hamilton, 2000

It indicates that US 82 is only left - not straight ahead (towards Las Cruces). But just south of that intersection, the sign below used to be posted:

Hamilton, 2000

In 2005, Steven didn't observe any US 82 signs heading southbound, but there were a few heading northbound - here's one:

Nelson, Nov. 2005

Actually, US 82 doesn't begin until you make a right turn near La Luz a few miles ahead. In the photo below, we're looking at the signage heading west at the end of US 82:

Hamilton, 2000

In 2009 someone reported that there were still references to US 82 in White Sands National Monument as well (that's between Alamogordo and Las Cruces).