Alabama State Route 5: Difference between revisions
Line 121: | Line 121: | ||
|- |
|- |
||
|87.498 |
|87.498 |
||
|{{jct|state=AL|US|82|SR|6|SR|219|dab3=Brent|dir3=south|city1=Tuscaloosa}} |
|{{jct|state=AL|US|82|SR|6|SR|219|dab3=Brent|dir3=south|city1=Tuscaloosa|city1=Centreville}} |
||
| |
| |
||
|- |
|- |
Revision as of 21:24, 7 August 2010
Route information | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Maintained by ALDOT | ||||
Length | 197.775 mi[1] (318.288 km) | |||
Major junctions | ||||
South end | ![]() ![]() | |||
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ||||
North end | ![]() ![]() ![]() | |||
Location | ||||
Country | United States | |||
State | Alabama | |||
Highway system | ||||
| ||||
|
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the major routes between Mobile and Birmingham,[2] it has since been shortened to about half of its former length, and superseded by newer highways such as Interstate 65 and State Route 157.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.[3][4]
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.[5] 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.[6][7]
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.[8][9]
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.[10][11]
Intersections with other highways & roads
County | Location | Mile[1] | Road(s) | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Clarke | Thomasville | 0.000 | ![]() ![]() | |
Wilcox | 5.710 | ![]() ![]() | ||
Pine Hill | 11.018 | ![]() | ||
14.045 | ![]() ![]() | |||
Marengo | No intersections | |||
Wilcox | Catherine | 28.103 | ![]() |
|
Dallas | 35.511 | ![]() ![]() | ||
Safford | 36.770 | ![]() ![]() | ||
Browns | 47.636 | ![]() ![]() |
||
Perry | 58.709 | ![]() ![]() |
South end of the overlap with SR-183. | |
Marion | 61.183 | ![]() ![]() |
||
62.939 | ![]() ![]() |
North end of the overlap with SR-183. | ||
63.175 | ![]() | |||
69.857 | ![]() ![]() | |||
Bibb | 80.830 | ![]() ![]() |
South end of the overlap with SR-25. | |
Brent | 83.848 | ![]() ![]() |
North end of the overlap with SR-25. | |
87.498 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
|||
92.227 | ![]() ![]() | |||
Woodstock | 105.545 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
South end of the overlap with US-11. | |
Tuscaloosa | 108.616 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Southwest end of the overlap with I-20 & I-59. Interchange: I-59 exit 97 | |
111.770 | ![]() ![]() |
Interchange: I-59 exit 100 | ||
Jefferson | 117.679 | ![]() ![]() |
Interchange: I-59 exit 106 | |
Bessemer | 119.874 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
North end of the overlap with I-20 & I-59. Interchange: I-59 exit 108 | |
123.295 | ![]() ![]() | |||
Birmingham | 133.470 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
North end of the overlap with US-11. South end of the overlap with US-78. | |
134.576 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Interchange: I-59 exit 123 | ||
137 | Daniel Payne Drive | |||
Adamsville | 141.434 | |||
Graysville | 145.457 | Lua error in Module:Jct at line 204: attempt to concatenate local 'link' (a nil value). | ||
146.5 | ![]() ![]() |
current end of the overlap with US-78. US-78 now occupies the future Interstate 22. | ||
Walker | Jasper | 169.020 | ![]() |
South end of the overlap with SR-69. |
172.182 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
North end of the overlap with SR-69. | ||
172.566 | ![]() ![]() | |||
Winston | Natural Bridge | 197.775 | ![]() ![]() ![]() |
References
- ^ a b Alabama Department of Transportation, County Milepost Maps, accessed September 2007
- ^ State Farm, Road Map: United States, Rand McNally & Company, 1953: note how SR-5 is one of only a few hghways that are not U.S. Highways shown on the map of Alabama. Archived 2009-10-24.
- ^ Rand McNally Auto Road Atlas, 1926
- ^ State Highway Department of Alabama, System of State Roads, revised January 1, 1927
- ^ General Drafting Company, State Road Map of Alabama, Fall of 1928
- ^ General Drafting Company, State Road Map of Alabama, 1933
- ^ General Drafting Company, State Road Map of Alabama, November 1934
- ^ Alabama State Highway Department, Alabama Highways, 1949
- ^ Alabama State Highway Department, Alabama State Highway System, 1951
- ^ Alabama State Highway Department, 1955-1956 Official Highway Map
- ^ Alabama State Highway Department, Official 1957 Alabama Highway Map