The Pellissippi Parkway is a highway in Knox

Knox County, Tennessee

Knox County is a county in the U.S. state of Tennessee. Its 2007 population was estimated at 423,874 by the United States Census Bureau. Its county seat is Knoxville, as it has been since the creation of the county. The county is at the geographical center of the Great Valley of East Tennessee...

 and Blount

Blount County

Blount County is the name of two counties in the United States:* Blount County, Alabama* Blount County, Tennessee...

 counties in Tennessee

Tennessee

Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

. It extends from State Route 62 (Oak Ridge Highway) at Solway

Solway, Tennessee

Solway is an unincorporated community in Knox County, Tennessee, United States. The United States Geographic Names System classifies Solway as a populated place. The area is located between Oak Ridge and Knoxville, just southeast of the Clinch River , which forms the Anderson County line...

 in Knox County to a terminus east of U.S. Route 129

U.S. Route 129

U.S. Route 129 is an offshoot route of U.S. Route 29, which it intersects near Athens, Georgia. US 129 currently runs for 582 miles from Knoxville, Tennessee, to Chiefland, Florida, at U.S. Route 19 and U.S. Route 98. It passes through the states of Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia and Florida...

 (Alcoa Highway) in Blount County. The central portion of the Pellissippi Parkway is included in the Interstate Highway system

Interstate Highway System

The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, , is a network of limited-access roads including freeways, highways, and expressways forming part of the National Highway System of the United States of America...

 and is designated I-140

Interstate 140 (Tennessee)

Interstate 140 is a spur route of Interstate 40 near Knoxville, Tennessee, that forms part of the Pellissippi Parkway. It runs east from Dutchtown Road north of Interstate 40 near Farragut to U.S. Route 129, near McGhee Tyson Airport. It intersects with U.S. Route 11 and U.S. Route 70 near its...

, while portions at either end (a 5.9 miles (9.5 km) long section in Knox County

Knox County, Tennessee

Knox County is a county in the U.S. state of Tennessee. Its 2007 population was estimated at 423,874 by the United States Census Bureau. Its county seat is Knoxville, as it has been since the creation of the county. The county is at the geographical center of the Great Valley of East Tennessee...

 and a short section in Blount County) are designated Tennessee State Route 162.

Pellissippi (also spelled Pelisipi on early maps) is said to mean "winding waters" in the Cherokee language

Cherokee language

Cherokee is an Iroquoian language spoken by the Cherokee people which uses a unique syllabary writing system. It is the only Southern Iroquoian language that remains spoken. Cherokee is a polysynthetic language.-North American etymology:...

, and is said to have been the Cherokee

Cherokee

The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...

s' name for the Clinch River

Clinch River

The Clinch River rises in Southwest Virginia near Tazewell, Virginia and flows southwest through the Great Appalachian Valley, gathering various tributaries including the Powell River before joining the Tennessee River in East Tennessee.-Course:...

. (These claims are problematic; see Talk:Pellissippi Parkway).

When first built, the Pellissippi Parkway was a four-lane divided highway

Divided Highway

Divided Highway is a compilation album by American rock band The Doobie Brothers, released in 2003. . All tracks are taken from the albums Cycles and Brotherhood .-Track listing:...

 in Knox County, extending from State Route 162 at Solway to an interchange with I-40/I-75 in western Knox County. The portion of Pellissippi Parkway from I-40/I-75 in Knox County and Tennessee State Route 33 in Blount County was constructed in four sections beginning in 1987. The first section, which crosses the Tennessee River

Tennessee River

The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately 652 miles long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other names...

 to connect Northshore Drive in Knox County with US 129 in Blount County, was completed in 1992, providing more efficient access to the McGhee Tyson Airport

McGhee Tyson Airport

-Top Destinations:-Accidents and incidents:* On 06 August, 1962, an American Airlines Lockheed L-188 Electra veered off the runway on landing, striking the raised edge of an under-construction taxiway with the landing gear, causing it to collapse...

 from Oak Ridge

Oak Ridge, Tennessee

Oak Ridge is a city in Anderson and Roane counties in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Tennessee, about west of Knoxville. Oak Ridge's population was 27,387 at the 2000 census...

 and Farragut

Farragut, Tennessee

Farragut is a town in Knox and Loudon counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee, and is generally a suburb of nearby Knoxville. Farragut's population was 20,689 at the 2010 census. It is included in the Knoxville Metropolitan Area...

. The Mabry Hood House, an antebellum

Antebellum architecture

Antebellum architecture is a term used to describe the characteristic neoclassical architectural style of the Southern United States, especially the Old South, from after the birth of the United States in the American Revolution, to the start of the American Civil War...

 home located on the south side of Kingston Pike, was demolished in the project to extend the Pellissippi Parkway south of I-40/I-75. The next section of the project, which opened in 1997, installed a new interchange with I-40/I-75 and provided a limited-access connection from that interchange to the Northshore Drive interchange. In 2003 a third section was opened in Blount County, extending from US 129 to Cusick Road opened in 2003, and the most recent section, from Cusick Road to Tennessee State Route 33, opened in late 2005. Plans call for extending the highway eastward to U.S. Route 321

U.S. Route 321

U.S. Route 321 is a spur of U.S. Route 21. It runs for 526 miles from South Carolina to Tennessee. The northern terminus of U.S. 321 is between Lenoir City and Oak Ridge, Tennessee, at Interstate 40 exit 364, which is about 4 miles west of Interstate 40's junction with Interstate 75...

in Blount County.