U.S. Route 29

US 29 begins at US 90 and US 98 in downtown Pensacola, Florida. Throughout the state, US 29 is twinned with the unsigned State Road 95 (SR 95).

The entire route in Florida runs within Escambia County. From its terminus north to SR 296, it is known as North Palafox Street. From this point it is known as Pensacola Boulevard north to Ten Mile Road, approximately one mile north of US 90 Alternate. Between SR 296 and the Molino community, US 29 runs parallel to its former routing, which is now County Road 95A. This former routing continues the name North Palafox Street from SR 296 north to Ten Mile Road.

US 29, internally designated by the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) as State Route 15 (SR 15), is a southwest-northeast state highway across the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Alabama. SR 15 ends in Brewton at a junction with US 31 (SR 3) and SR 41, but US 29 continues west with US 31/SR 3 to Flomaton and south on SR 113 to the Florida state line.

US 29/SR 15 traverses Alabama in a general northeast–southwest path. It has never been a major route in the state; its significance was completely overshadowed with the completion of I-65 and I-85 during the 1970s. Today, US 29/SR 15 serves primarily to connect numerous smaller towns and cities in the southwest, south-central, and eastern parts of Alabama, notably passing near Troy University, Tuskegee University, and Auburn University in the east.

US 29 no longer passes through downtown Auburn or downtown Opelika. The US Highway is concurrent with I-85 from exit 51, south of Auburn, to exit 64, northeast of Opelika. This change was made by ALDOT in the 1990s. Route markers have been appropriately relocated since then.

US 29 passes through the northern portion of Georgia, starting in Hart County towards Athens and Gwinnett County and then onward to Atlanta. The highway passes by notable universities, such as Georgia Tech and Emory University in Atlanta and the University of Georgia in Athens. US 29 meanders through Hartwell and the Lake Hartwell region near the South Carolina border. From West Point, (just south of LaGrange) at the Alabama-Georgia state line to downtown Atlanta, SR 8 and SR 14 are paired with US 29 at various points in the state. US 29 to the southwest of Atlanta has been named Roosevelt Highway, since Franklin D. Roosevelt made his final journey northward from Warm Springs along this stretch of highway. Large crowds gathered along US 29 on this day in April 1945 to pay their final respects to the deceased president. Unfortunately for those who waited along the highway they missed seeing the president's body being transported back to Washington on a train that ran on nearby tracks.

In South Carolina, US 29 maintains a northeasterly routing, passing through Anderson, Greenville, and Spartanburg.

From Greenville through Greer, US 29 is known as Wade Hampton Boulevard. It is a major commercial artery for both Greer and Taylors. A six-lane highway, the road forms the western border of Bob Jones University and then passes near Chick Springs, a mineral springs that served as the focus of a small but important resort community during the nineteenth century.

US 29 was built as the main highway between Greenville and the other city of northwestern South Carolina, Spartanburg. The construction of I-85, connecting Greenville to Spartanburg, left US 29 underused until recent decades.

In North Carolina, US 29 connects the cities of Gastonia, Charlotte, Concord, Salisbury, High Point, Greensboro, and Reidsville. US 29 routes through Charlotte along Tryon Street, one of the main arteries that runs through uptown Charlotte. NASCAR's Charlotte Motor Speedway is on US 29 where Charlotte and Concord border.

View north along US 29 at US 29 Bus. in Lovingston, Virginia

In Virginia, part of US 29 is named the Lee Highway. US 29 connects the historic small cities and large towns of west-central Virginia, including Danville, Lynchburg, Charlottesville, Culpeper, and Warrenton, with Fairfax, Falls Church, Arlington, and Washington, D.C., to the northeast, and with North Carolina to the southwest.

Along its route in Virginia, US 29 provides significant access to and from several major colleges and universities, including the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, George Mason University in Fairfax, Sweet Briar College in Sweet Briar, and Liberty University, University of Lynchburg, and Randolph College in Lynchburg.

Francis Scott Key Bridge, carrying US 29 into Washington, D.C.

US 29 enters Washington, D.C., via the Francis Scott Key Bridge adjacent to Georgetown University. The designation turns east onto the Whitehurst Freeway, bypassing Georgetown to the south. Upon crossing Rock Creek, the freeway ends, becoming the at-grade K Street. US 29 remains on K Street to 11th Street, where US 29 turns north onto 11th for seven blocks. At Rhode Island Avenue, US 29 turns right. US 29 northbound turns left at 6th Street NW (touching US 1 where it turns from Rhode Island Avenue to 6th Street); it follows 6th Street NW for two blocks and then turns left onto Florida Avenue NW, where it then turns right onto Georgia Avenue NW. US 29 southbound at this point, however, follows 7th Street, NW to Rhode Island Avenue NW. The route maintains a northerly routing as it passes through northern Washington, D.C., and enters Maryland. During its alignment with Georgia Avenue NW, US 29 bypasses the Howard University campus to the west.

In Maryland, US 29 turns northeast onto Colesville Road, intersects the Capital Beltway (Interstate 495), becomes Columbia Pike, and intersects New Hampshire Avenue (Maryland Route 650, MD 650), MD 200 (known as the Intercounty Connector), MD 198, MD 32, MD 175, MD 100, US 40 and I-70 before terminating at MD 99 northwest of Ellicott City.

The portion of US 29 from US 70 at Charlotte, North Carolina, northeast to Lynchburg, Virginia, was U.S. Route 170 from 1926 until 1931, when US 29 became part of the route. The US 170 designation was then removed and the route remained as US 29 only.[1]