GA 333 was given a second chance in 1995, but the highway itself had a much more interesting history than its current two-lane cut-off to Florida. Originally commissioned in 1960, GA 333 once had a much greater purpose: a new four-lane expressway for the Old Dixie Highway. Unfortunately, the best made plans aren't always well-founded, and GA 333 lost its need through a series of events.

Work began in the 1950's to build a new route for U.S. 41 south of Atlanta to the Florida border. I-75 had not yet taken shape, and in many places the route was indeterminate. Work was still basically focused on four-laning U.S. 41 through Georgia with the first section south of Atlanta to Jonesboro, which was completed in 1953. From there, the four-laning of 41 (sharing mileage with U.S. 19) was extended south to Lovejoy in 1954, Sunnyside in 1955 and Griffin in 1956. Initially treated as the future corridor for I-75, the highway was designated as part of GA 401. By 1963, GA 401, along with I-75, which was approaching Atlanta from the south, was moved to a different route, but work continued on improving U.S. 19/41 to part expressway and part freeway. It was then that GA 333 made its Southside Atlanta appearance, following the new four-lane sections of U.S. 19/41 while GA 3, the former U.S. 19/41 overlap, was retained on the old route.

Meanwhile, down further south, U.S. 19 between Albany and Thomasville also beginning a metamorphosis. There, a whole new alignment was being built to replace the narrow and primitive two-lane route with the new alignment designated as GA 333 and the old alignment remaining GA 3 instead of being moved to the new route. This section of GA 333 made its debut in 1960 and was built rather quickly.

In all, these were two separate routes, but shared common characteristics. Both replaced older alignments of U.S. 19 and both were intended in part to keep GA 3, the state overlap on that part of U.S. 19 as well, on the old alignment in lieu of decommissioning the highway. Overall, it appeared that the plan was to eventually unite these routes in a new four-lane highway from Atlanta to Florida, but the plan lost steam when I-75 trumped it in importance.

Truly built originally to be part of I-75, the northern section of GA 333 as stated above came later than the southern route. On the northern section, it was not until 1964 that work began to extend it south of Barnesville. Work on that final phase was later completed, ending just southeast of the city in 1970. Oddly enough, this resulted in an immediate truncation of GA 333 back to U.S. 19 just south of Griffin when the last section completed, the Griffin Expressway, opened to traffic.

Click on a thumbnail to view a larger image. The two maps show GA 333 from Jonesboro to Griffin. The northern end in Jonesboro is not pictured. Note the proposed GA 333 alignment, Old U.S. 19 shown as GA 3 and the long-decommissioned section of U.S. 41 through Orchard Hill (1964 GHD Map).

By 1970, GA 333 on its northern branch extended from U.S. 19 up to north of Jonesboro where GA 3 reclaimed its full authority over U.S. 19/41 into Atlanta. The seemingly arbitrary endings of GA 333 on the northern section did not exactly make navigation in the area easier. As a result, GA 7, which previously ended in Griffin, was extended further north over GA 333 in 1970 so that GA 3 could continue to utilize the old alignments while keeping a mmore continuous overlap southward past Barnesville. Just as an interesting side note, the Clayton County part of U.S. 19/41 (including GA 333) became known as Tara Boulevard to commemorate the Old South tale of the Tara Plantation in "Gone With the Wind".

When GA 333 was partially completed north of Barnesville, it received the new designation. However, GA 7 took over the route up to U.S. 19 when the Griffin Expressway was completed (1969 GHD Map).

While the northern section was short-lived, the southern section of GA 333 gained prominence in its development. From its beginnings in 1960, the first sections to open were the Thomasville By-Pass, which extended from the original route up to GA 188. U.S. 19 there used part of GA 188 to cut back to the old route in Ochlocknee, but this was a temporary terminus for GA 333. U.S. 19 Business was then designated on the old alignment through Thomasville. with U.S. 19 moved to GA 333. Also, GA 333 overtook part of existing GA 35 from Thomasville south to the Florida state line.

Further north, another section of the route extended from Albany south to Dougherty/Mitchell County Line. The following year, that segment was extended further south to Mitchell C.R. 275. Wasting no time, the year after, the route was open to U.S. 19 south of Camilla on the north end and up to GA 111 in Meigs on the south end. The feverishly built southern section was fully open to traffic by 1964, replacing a primitive early 20th century two-lane roadway with a modern highway that included four-lane sections at the two population centers on each end and four-lane by-passes of Camilla and Pelham.

Click on the images above to view larger images of the maps shown. Maps here include the section of GA 333 between Albany and Camilla and Camilla to the Florida border (1964 GHD Maps)

The last major original project on GA 333 was the Albany Expressway. With the route set in 1968, the freeway was completed in 1974, creating a high speed route around the city. This also resulted in a northward extension so that GA 333 ended at the final exit where its overlapping U.S. 19 returned to its two-lane alignment.

The Albany Expressway, completed in 1974, created a freeway around the city and for awhile formed the northern end of GA 333 (1973 GHD Map).

The southern section of GA 333 was a primitive concept that began to lose its value. Its purpose went from being a major intrastate route to simply a placeholder for GA 3, which remained on the dwindling old alignment. Most likely, the local businesses demanded the retention of GA 3 as a state route when GA 333 was built, but after a decade and a half, most likely those businesses closed or relocated to the modern route. GA 3 was then a ghost road, and GDOT lost interest in its upkeep.

Meanwhile, GDOT also had big plans. The first and more grand proposal was for I-175, which would have linked Albany to I-75 with a full interstate and possibly extended south to Tallahassee. While this plan failed to materialize, a scaled down project to widen existing GA 257 and GA 333 into a four-lane roadway from the Florida State Line to I-75 did materialize. Work began in 1980 for the planned project, which included widening of the remainder of GA 333 between Albany and Thomasville, and was substantially completed by 1983. This also resulted in the decommissioning of the last section of GA 333 when GA 300 took over as the prefered route from I-75 into Florida. Ironically, GA 300 had been decommissioned on another road in Jasper and Putnam Counties only a year earlier, making the new designation available. The last section of GA 333 disappeared from the maps, but it would be back.

GDOT apparently did not want to see such a distinct route number go to waste, so GA 333 made a comeback in 1995 when GA 33, 94 and 133 were all reshuffled south of Moultrie. GA 94 was truncated east of I-75. GA 133 was relocated along GA 33 and 94 to Valdosta. Old GA 133 to Boston became GA 33. So what number to use to fill the former GA 33 with? None other than GA 333. Perhaps GDOT thought this was clever, but clustering GA 33, 133 and 333 all in the same general area is a bit confusing, especially when the routes ending in 33 were switched around like that. Nevertheless, GA 333 once again goes into Florida, but this time standing on its own as it cuts through Quitman between Moultrie and Madison, FL.

Modern-day SR 333 running through Quitman. The route of today did not land far from its original course (1997 GDOT Map).