U.S. Route 31W is the westernmost of two parallel routes for U.S. Route 31

U.S. Route 31

U.S. Route 31 is a long north–south highway connecting northern Michigan to southern Alabama, with its northern terminus at Interstate 75 near Mackinaw City, Michigan, and southern terminus at the combined U.S. Route 90 & U.S. Route 98 at Spanish Fort, Alabama...

 from Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...

 to Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...

. At one time, it split with U.S. Route 31E

U.S. Route 31E

U.S. Route 31E is the easternmost of two parallel routes for U.S. Highway 31 from Nashville, Tennessee, to Louisville, Kentucky. U.S. Route 31E is the easternmost of two parallel routes for U.S. Highway 31 from Nashville, Tennessee, to Louisville, Kentucky. U.S. Route 31E is the easternmost of two...

 at Sellersburg, Indiana

Sellersburg, Indiana

Sellersburg is a city located within Silver Creek Township, Clark County, Indiana, United States. It had a population of 6,128 at time of the 2010 census...

, north of Louisville.

The highway passes through Goodlettsville

Goodlettsville, Tennessee

Goodlettsville is a city in Davidson and Sumner counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee. Goodlettsville was incorporated as a city in 1958 with a population of just over 3,000 residents; at the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 13,780. Goodlettsville chose to remain autonomous in 1963...

 and White House, Tennessee

White House, Tennessee

White House is a city in Robertson and Sumner counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee. The population was 7,220 at the 2000 census. According to the city website a special census was conducted in 2008 that placed the city population at 9,891 residents, with 3,587 households within the city limits...

; and Franklin

Franklin, Kentucky

As of the census of 2000, there were 7,996 people, 3,251 households, and 2,174 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,074.7 people per square mile . There were 3,609 housing units at an average density of 485.1 per square mile...

, Bowling Green

Bowling Green, Kentucky

Bowling Green is the third-most populous city in the state of Kentucky after Louisville and Lexington, with a population of 58,067 as of the 2010 Census. It is the county seat of Warren County and the principal city of the Bowling Green, Kentucky Metropolitan Statistical Area with an estimated 2009...

, Cave City

Cave City, Kentucky

Cave City is a city in Barren County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 1,880 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Glasgow Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Cave City is located at ....

, Horse Cave

Horse Cave, Kentucky

Horse Cave is a city in Hart County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 2,252 at the 2000 census.- History :The city is best known for the large natural cave opening located on the south side of Main Street, from which the town's name is derived. As for the historical reason for the odd...

, Munfordville

Munfordville, Kentucky

Munfordville is a city in and the county seat of Hart County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 1,563 at the 2000 census.-History:The city was once known as Big Buffalo Crossing. The current name came from Richard Jones Munford, who donated the land for development in 1816...

, Elizabethtown

Elizabethtown, Kentucky

Elizabethtown is a city in and the county seat of Hardin County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 28,531 at the 2010 census, making it the eleventh-largest city in the state...

 and Radcliff, Kentucky

Radcliff, Kentucky

Radcliff is a city in Hardin County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 21,961 at the 2000 census. It is included in the Elizabethtown, Kentucky Metropolitan Statistical Area....

. It passes within a half mile on an entrance to Mammoth Cave National Park

Mammoth Cave National Park

Mammoth Cave National Park is a U.S. National Park in central Kentucky, encompassing portions of Mammoth Cave, the longest cave system known in the world. The official name of the system is the Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave System for the ridge under which the cave has formed. The park was established...

 near Park City, Kentucky

Park City, Kentucky

Park City is a city in Barren County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 517 at the 2000 census. It has historically served as a gateway to nearby Mammoth Cave National Park and Diamond Caverns, a privately-owned cave attraction....

. It also passes through Fort Knox

Fort Knox

Fort Knox is a United States Army post in Kentucky south of Louisville and north of Elizabethtown. The base covers parts of Bullitt, Hardin, and Meade counties. It currently holds the Army Human Resources Center of Excellence to include the Army Human Resources Command, United States Army Cadet...

 near Radcliff, within sight of the U.S. Bullion Depository.

Most of US-31W's route was part of the old Dixie Highway

Dixie Highway

The Dixie Highway was a United States automobile highway, first planned in 1914 to connect the US Midwest with the Southern United States. It was part of the National Auto Trail system, and grew out of an earlier Miami to Montreal highway. The final result is better understood as a small network of...

 from the National Auto Trail

National auto trail

The system of auto trails was an informal network of marked routes that existed in the United States and Canada in the early part of the 20th century. Marked with colored bands on telephone poles, the trails were intended to help travellers in the early days of the automobile.Auto trails were...

 program, the predecessor to the United States Numbered Highways

United States Numbered Highways

The system of United States Numbered Highways is an integrated system of roads and highways in the United States numbered within a nationwide grid...

 system. Many of the cities through which US-31W traverses still give it a local street name of "Dixie Highway" or "Dixie Avenue." Some portions date back further, to the Louisville and Nashville Turnpike

Louisville and Nashville Turnpike

The Louisville and Nashville Turnpike was a toll road that ran from Louisville, Kentucky to Nashville, Tennessee during the 19th century. From Louisville, one route now called US highway 31W ran through Elizabethtown, Munfordville, Glasgow Junction , Bowling Green, and Franklin to the Tennessee line...

, which began construction in the 1830s.

Interstate 65

Interstate 65

Interstate 65 is a major Interstate Highway in the United States. The southern terminus is located at an intersection with Interstate 10 in Mobile, Alabama, and its northern terminus is at an interchange with Interstate 90 , U.S. Route 12, and U.S...

 closely parallels US-31W from Nashville to Elizabethtown, and interchanges with I-65 several times. US-31W intersects with the William H. Natcher Parkway

William H. Natcher Parkway

The Wiliam H. Natcher Green River Parkway is a limited-access freeway from Bowling Green, Kentucky to Owensboro, Kentucky. The Natcher is one of nine highways that are part of Kentucky's parkway system. Conceived as the "Owensboro-Bowling Green Parkway," it was instead named the Green River...

 at Bowling Green, the Wendell H. Ford Western Kentucky Parkway at Elizabethtown, and Interstate 264

Interstate 264 (Kentucky)

The Henry Watterson Expressway, also known as the Georgia Davis Powers/Shawnee Expressway west of US 31W, is one of two Interstate Highways in the United States designated as Interstate 264 . It is 22.93 miles in length, and runs an open circle around central Louisville, Kentucky...

 (Watterson Expressway) in Louisville. It crosses US-68 and US-231 at Bowling Green, and US-62 at Elizabethtown. It overlaps with US-60

U.S. Route 60 in Kentucky

Upon entering Kentucky, U.S. 60 is concurrent with U.S. 51 and U.S. 62 from the Ohio River bridge to the town of Wickliffe. At Wickliffe, U.S. 60 separates from the other routes and heads generally northeast toward the city of Paducah. Between Wickliffe and Paducah, the towns of Barlow, La Center...

 from Muldraugh, Kentucky

Muldraugh, Kentucky

Muldraugh is a city in Hardin and Meade Counties in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It lies on U.S. Route 31W, approximately halfway between Louisville and Elizabethtown. The city's limits are completely encompassed by the Fort Knox Army base...

to Louisville.