Alabama State Route 5

"AL 5" redirects here. For the congressional district, see Alabama's 5th congressional district.

State Route 5
Route information
Maintained by ALDOT
Length	197.775 mi (318.288 km)
Major junctions
South end	US 43 / SR 13 in Thomasville
Major intersections	SR 14 / SR 183 in Marion US 82 near Centreville I-20 / I-59 / US 11 / SR 7 in Birmingham SR 69 / SR 118 in Jasper
North end	US 278 / SR 13 / SR 74 in Natural Bridge
Location
Country	United States
State	Alabama
Highway system
Alabama State Highway System Interstate US State
← SR 4 → SR 6

State Route 5 is a north–south state highway is the western part of the State of Alabama. While it once extended - prior to the renumbering of the higways of Alabama in 1957 - from Mobile north to Tennessee, and was one of the major routes between Mobile and Birmingham, it has since been shortened to about half of its former length, and superseded by newer highways such as Interstate 65 and State Route 157.

Route description

In a way, Ala-5 is two separate highways. The first leg of its route begins at the present southern terminus of Ala-5 at its intersection with U.S. Highway 43 at Thomasville, Alabama. For the next 135 miles (217 km), proceeds northeasterly towards Birmingham, passing through the rural areas of the Black Belt. In northern Bibb County, SR-5 joins U.S. Highway 11, Interstate 20, and Interstate 59, and these continue their route to the northeast. Ala-5 runs on the same pavement with US-11 for 30 miles (48 km) between Woodstock and Birmingham.

The second section of Ala-5 begins near the historic Legion Field stadium in Birmingham, where US-11 and Ala-5 intersect with U.S. Highway 78. At that point, the overlapping of Ala-5 and U.S. Highway 11 ends, and the 40-mile (64 km)-long overlapping of Ala-5 and US-78 begins. US-78 and Ala-5 head northwest towards Jasper, passing through the Birmingham suburbs of Forestdale, Adamsville and Graysville. At Jasper, Ala-5 forks away from US-78, continuing through the rural areas of Walker County and Winston County. The northern terminus of Ala-5 is at its junction with U.S. 278 and State Route 13 at Natural Bridge.

History

In the original numbering of state roads in the mid-1920s, the highway that would become Ala-5 had several numbers. Ala-6 was the highway from Mobile north via Thomasville to Selma. SR-35 split from SR-6 at Safford and ran northeast near Woodstock, where traffic could continue to Birmingham on Ala-2 (US-11). SR-43 split from SR-8 (US-78) at Jasper, taking traffic from Montgomery via US-78 to Phil Campbell.

SR-43 also ran southwest from Jasper to SR-33 at the village of Bankston, though the exact route had not been defined by 1927. From there, travelers could continue north on part of Ala-5 to Florence, and SR-50 to the State of Tennessee, where the road became Tennessee State Route 6 towards Lawrenceburg, Tenn., and Nashville, Tenn.

By late 1928, a large renumbering of highways had been carried out. The new Ala-5 stretched from Mobile to Tennessee via Birmingham and Florence, and included several former routes: most of SR-6, all of SR-35, most of SR-43, part of Ala-5, and all of Ala-50. The remainders of SR-35 and SR-43 became parts of SR-22 and SR-18. The old Ala-5 was split among several routes. The two halves of new SR-5 were linked between somewhaere near Woodstock and Jasper by overlap with SR-7 (US-11) and SR-4 (US-78) via Birmingham. US-43 was added to the route south of Thomasville and north of Phil Campbell in 1933 or 1934. In between those two, Ala-5 used a shorter route, mainly SR-13.

Except for minor relocations and widenings, Ala-5 remained the same until the 1950s. Around 1950, a new highway, running southeast from Ala-5 at Haleyville to local roads at Natural Bridge, was added to the state highway system as SR-195.

Maintenance by the Alabama Highway Department was extended southeast from Natural Bridge to SR-5 near Jasper by 1957. In that year, in the renumbering of the state highways of Alabama, substantial changes were made to the route of Ala-5. Both portions of it that had been co-routes with US-43 - south of Thomasville and north of Phil Campbell - became SR-13, which essentially became the unsigned partner to US-43 across the state. SR-13 used a shorter highway between Bankston and Haleyville, joining Ala-5 at Natural Bridge and making the north end of Ala-5 an overlap with SR-13. US-43 has never been moved to this route.

In addition, Ala-5 and SR-195 were swapped between Jasper and Haleyville, giving Ala-5 a more direct route that had just been paved. This removed almost half of the original Alalama highway 5, leaving it a reflected C-shaped route, with both ends of connecting with US-43, and its eastmost point in Birmingham.

Intersections with other highways & roads

County	Location	Mile	Road(s)	Notes
Clarke	Thomasville	0.000	US 43 / SR 13
Wilcox		5.710	SR 25 north
	Pine Hill	11.018	SR 10
		14.045	SR 162 east
Marengo	No intersections
Wilcox	Catherine	28.103	SR 28
Dallas		35.511	SR 66 west
	Safford	36.770	SR 22 east
	Browns	47.636	US 80 / SR 8
Perry		58.709	SR 183 south	South end of the overlap with SR-183.
	Marion	61.183	SR 289 north
		62.939	SR 183 north	North end of the overlap with SR-183.
		63.175	SR 14
		69.857	SR 175 south
Bibb		80.830	SR 25 south	South end of the overlap with SR-25.
	Brent	83.848	SR 25 north	North end of the overlap with SR-25.
		87.498	US 82 / SR 6 / SR 219 south – Centreville
		92.227	SR 219 south
	Woodstock	105.545	US 11 south / SR 7 south	South end of the overlap with US-11.
Tuscaloosa		108.616	I-20 west / I-59 south – Vance	Southwest end of the overlap with I-20 & I-59. Interchange: I-59 exit 97
		111.770	SR 216 west	Interchange: I-59 exit 100
Jefferson		117.679	I-459 north – Bessemer	Interchange: I-59 exit 106
	Bessemer	119.874	I-20 east / I-59 north – Birmingham	North end of the overlap with I-20 & I-59. Interchange: I-59 exit 108
		123.295	SR 150 east (14th Street)
	Birmingham	133.470	US 11 north / US 78 east / SR 7 north (3rd Avenue)	North end of the overlap with US-11. South end of the overlap with US-78.
		134.576	I-20 / I-59 to I-65 – Birmingham	Interchange: I-59 exit 123
		137	Daniel Payne Drive
	Adamsville	141.434
	Graysville	145.457
		146.5	I-22 / SR 4	current end of the overlap with US-78. US-78 now occupies the future Interstate 22.
Walker	Jasper	169.020	SR 69 (Industrial Parkway)	South end of the overlap with SR-69.
		172.182	SR 69 south to SR 118 west	North end of the overlap with SR-69.
		172.566	SR 195 north
Winston	Natural Bridge	197.775	US 278 / SR 13 / SR 74