End of US highway 441 (south segment)
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(not to be confused with the separate northern segment of US 441)
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Summa
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1926-1970
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1970-present
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Mileage: According to the state subtotals on AASHTO's 1989 route log, the south segment of US 441 measured 834 miles. That very closely matches our own 2020 measurement, which yielded 835.2 miles.
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In 1952 US 441 was extended north through Great Smoky Mountains National Park to its current terminus in Tennessee. Until 1970, US 441 was a single, continuous route. But in November of that year, the Park decided it did not want the US 441 designation within its boundaries, and AASHO acknowledged that the National Parks Service had sole jurisdiction over the roads within. Since then, US 441 is assumed to follow an implied route through GSMNP, but since US routes no longer exist within the Park, there are now two separate, disconnected segments of US 441. This page covers the south segment.
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In 1970, the new US 441[s] inherited the same south terminus that the unified US 441 had since 1949. US 441[s] heads due south from the Palm Beach area, parallel to the Atlantic Coast. When it reaches the Miami area, it is routed down NW 7th Av. The road jogs as it crosses the Miami River and becomes 8th Av. US 441 ends at SW 8th Street, which carries US 41 traffic:
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c. 1953, FDoT
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Today US 441 crosses westbound US 41 at the one-way SW 7th St, but the US 441 designation still ends at SW 8th St, which carries eastbound US 41. In these photos , the view is south on SW 8th Av, and the cross street is SW 8th St:
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Cozart/Nitzman, May 2006
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Karners, Dec. 2009
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In 2006 there was no signage heralding the south beginning of US 441 from either 8th St or 7th St. As of 2009, that was still true of 8th St, but a new signpost had been erected on 7th:
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Karners, Dec. 2009
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Kind of interesting that southbound US 441 is mentioned there, since it ends one block in that direction. If a driver were to turn right, they would immediately spot the first northbound confirming marker:
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Karners, Dec. 2009
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Since 1970, when the removal of the US 441 designation from GSMNP created US 441[s], the north terminus of that route has been in Cherokee. North Carolina DOT signposts US 441 literally right up to the Park boundary, even though the designation actually ends in the middle ground just beyond this sign shown in this photo:
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Google Maps Street View, Jul. 2022
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Just ahead, the road enters the Park, and there it is referred to only as Newfound Gap Road. But it is implied that US 441 continues ahead, and a little over 30 miles in that direction, the US 441 designation reappears in Gatlinburg TN; more info and photos from there can be found on the US 441[n] page.
Research and/or photo credits: Justin Cozart; Karin and Martin Karner; Alex Nitzman; Dale Sanderson; Michael Summa
Page originally created 2000;
last updated Feb. 27, 2023.
last updated Feb. 27, 2023.
