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mleekamp's avatar
mleekamp
Explorer
Oct 07, 2021

Avoiding Nashville -- heading North

Hey all. Don't get the wrong idea!

We love Nashville but want to avoid Friday afternoon/5pm traffic...we are not stopping in Nashville this trip. We have booked a big Florida trip for 2022, ending with a stay in Destin near the beach. The drive home (central IL) will have us on I-65 N ... we have driven thru Nashville this way before a few years ago on a Friday afternoon, and wow, was that painful. Three hour delay (maybe a bit less) crawling thru.

I think the best way to avoid is taking I-840 N to I-40 W to Route 46 N to Route 48 N to Clarksville TN, thereby bypassing Nashville.

I'm asking has anyone done this or similar? Is there a better way? We are stopping for the nite in Clarksville on the way home so hoping this works.
Roads and Routes
  • mleekamp's avatar
    mleekamp
    Explorer
    Oct 08, 2021
    Thanks Wadcutter. Exactly what I was looking for.

    Everyone -- of course we would love to hit Nashville earlier or a lot later ... but it does not seem to calc out that way for the trip. We made bookings now for June '22 as some of the places we want to stay are already at like 75% capacity for that time.
  • Wadcutter's avatar
    Wadcutter
    Nomad
    Oct 07, 2021
    mleekamp wrote:

    I think the best way to avoid is taking I-840 N to I-40 W to Route 46 N to Route 48 N to Clarksville TN, thereby bypassing Nashville.
    I'm asking has anyone done this or similar? Is there a better way? We are stopping for the nite in Clarksville on the way home so hoping this works.

    We've gone that route a few times. 48 is 2 lane and slower going. Lots of curves and a few small towns. Was a lot less of a problem tho than fighting traffic in Nashville.
    Last spring we took I-40 about 30 miles farther west to 641 and then north thru Paris and Murray. Good 4 lane. Nice drive.
    We've also taken the Briley Parkway around Nashville and gone straight thru. Usually, off peak hours Briley isn't too bad. But even then it only takes one crash or broken down vehicle to get Briley plugged up where you can be sitting or barely moving.
    840 around Nashville is smooth sailing. Very little traffic.
  • rk911's avatar
    rk911
    Explorer
    Oct 07, 2021
    RetiredRealtorRick wrote:
    Why not adjust the trip so you don't hit Nashville at 5pm on a Friday afternoon? Rather than going way out of the way, leave sooner -- leave later.


    yup. we try to hit nashville no later than 2pm.
  • RetiredRealtorR's avatar
    RetiredRealtorR
    Explorer
    Oct 07, 2021
    Why not adjust the trip so you don't hit Nashville at 5pm on a Friday afternoon? Rather than going way out of the way, leave sooner -- leave later.

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