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State Route 72
State Route 72
	SR 72 highlighted in red
Route information
	Maintained by GDOT
Length	46.7 mi (75.2 km)
Major junctions
West end	US 29 / SR 8 in Athens
East end	SC 72 at the South Carolina state line southwest of Calhoun Falls, South Carolina
Location
Country	United States
State	Georgia
Counties	Clarke, Madison, Elbert
Highway system
	Georgia State Highway System; Interstate; US; State; ; Special;

State Route 72 (SR 72) is a 46.7-mile-long (75.2 km) state highway that runs west-to-east through portions of Clarke, Madison, and Elbert counties in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Georgia. This route is part of a multi two-state route 72 that begins at Athens, Georgia and ends at Rock Hill, South Carolina. The route connects the Athens area with the South Carolina state line, southwest of Calhoun Falls, South Carolina, via Comer and Elberton.

Route description

SR 72 begins at an intersection with US 29/SR 8 (Old Monroe Road) in the northeastern part of Athens, on the northern edge of Athens Technical College, in Clarke County. It travels to the northeast, crossing into Madison County and passes through the towns of Hull and Colbert, and meets the western terminus of SR 172, just northeast of Colbert. Just before entering and bypassing Comer, the route crosses over the South Fork Broad River. While bypassing the town, it intersects the eastern terminus of SR 22 and the southern terminus of SR 98. SR 72 departs Comer, passing northeast of Watson Mill Bridge State Park, before bypassing Carlton. It heads northeast, crossing over the Broad River into Elbert County. It continues northeast toward Elberton. Just before entering town, it begins a concurrency with SR 17 (Bowman Highway). In town, it intersects SR 77 (Oliver Street). On the southeastern edge of town, SR 17 splits off to the southeast onto Elbert Street, while SR 72 heads east-southeast. It passes through rural areas of the county, and intersects the northern terminus of SR 79 (Lincolnton Highway) right before crossing the South Carolina border. At the South Carolina line, it crosses over Richard B. Russell Lake. There, the roadway continues to the northwest, toward Calhoun Falls, as South Carolina Highway 72.^[1]

The entire length of SR 72 is part of the National Highway System, a system of routes determined to be the most important for the nation's economy, mobility, and defense.^[2]^[3]

Future

GDOT proposed to widen SR 72 into a four-lane road with a green grass median from an intersection of SR 17 in Elberton to the South Carolina state line. The project was made to make the multi-state route 72 into a four-lane highway with some stretch miles of being a divided highway from its western terminus at Athens to an interchange of Interstate 26 (I-26) at Clinton, South Carolina.^[4]

Major intersections

County	Location	mi^[1]	km	Destinations	Notes
Clarke	Athens	0.0	0.0	US 29 / SR 8 – Danielsville, Downtown Athens	Western terminus
Madison		9.5	15.3	SR 172 east – Bowman	Western terminus of SR 172
		11.6	18.7	South Fork Broad River
	Comer	13.3	21.4	SR 22 west / SR 98 north – Lexington, Danielsville	Eastern terminus of SR 22; southern terminus of SR 98
Broad River		22.0	35.4	Madison–Elbert county line
Elbert		30.2	48.6	SR 17 north (Bowman Highway) – Bowman	Western end of SR 17 concurrency
	Elberton	31.6	50.9	SR 77 (Oliver Street) – Lexington, Hartwell
				SR 77 Conn. north (Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard) – Hartwell, Anderson S.C.	Southern terminus of SR 77 Conn.; truck route to SR 77
		33.6	54.1	SR 17 south (Elbert Street) – Washington	Eastern end of SR 17 concurrency
		42.1	67.8	SR 79 south (Lincolnton Highway) – Lincolnton	Northern terminus of SR 79
Richard B. Russell Lake		46.73	75.20	South Carolina state line
Richard B. Russell Lake		46.73	75.20	SC 72 east – Calhoun Falls	Continuation To South Carolina
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Concurrency terminus