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Alabama State Route 5

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 98.67.166.134 (talk) at 15:52, 7 August 2010 (Having to tell people that Alabama is part of the United States is actually quite insulting. For example, Alabama is larger than Scotland, Wales, Belgium, Luxembourg, or Switzerland,). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

"AL 5" redirects here. For the congressional district, see Alabama's 5th congressional district.
State Route 5 marker
State Route 5
Route information
Maintained by ALDOT
Length197.775 mi[1] (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
CountryUnited States
StateAlabama
Highway system
  • Alabama State Highway System
← 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the major routes between Mobile and Birmingham,[2] it has since been shortened to about half of its former length, and superseded by newer highways such as Interstate 65 and State Route 157.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 essence, SR-5 is two separate routes. The first leg of the route begins at the southern terminus of the route at the junction with U.S. Highway 43 at Thomasville. For the next 135 miles (217 km), the route heads to the northeast towards Birmingham, passing through the rural areas of Alabama’s Black Belt. In northern Bibb County, SR-5 junctions with U.S. Highway 11, then Interstate 20/Interstate 59 and continues its northeastward trajectory. SR-5 is co-routed with US-11 for 30 miles (48 km) between Woodstock and Birmingham.

The second section of the route begins near historic Legion Field in Birmingham, where US-11 and SR-5 junction U.S. Highway 78. There, the overlap of SR-5 and U.S. Highway 11 end, and the 40-mile (64 km) long overlap of SR-5 and US-78 begins. US-78 and SR-5 head northwestwardly towards Jasper, passing through the suburbs of Forestdale, Adamsville and Graysville. At Jasper, SR-5 splits from US-78, continuing through rural areas of Walker County and Winston County. The northern terminus of SR-5 is at its junction with U.S. Highway 278 and State Route 13 at Natural Bridge.

History

In the original numbering of state roads in the mid-1920s, the corridors that would become SR-5 had several numbers. SR-6 occupied the road 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 SR-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 Bankston, though the exact route had not been defined by 1927.) From there, travelers could continue north on part of SR-5 to Florence and SR-50 to the Tennessee state line, where the road became Tennessee State Route 6 towards Lawrenceburg and Nashville.[3][4]

By late 1928, a large renumbering had been carried out. The new SR-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 SR-5, and all of SR-50. The remainders of SR-35 and SR-43 became parts of SR-22 and SR-18; old SR-5 was split among several routes. The two halves of new SR-5 were linked between near Woodstock and Jasper by overlaps 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 it used a shorter route, mainly SR-13.[6][7]

Except for minor relocations and widenings, SR-5 remained the same until the 1950s. Around 1950, a new road, running southeast from SR-5 at Haleyville to local roads at Natural Bridge, was added to the state highway system as SR-195.[8][9] State maintenance was extended southeast from Natural Bridge to SR-5 near Jasper by 1957, and that year, in the 1957 renumbering, substantial changes were made to SR-5. Both portions that were cosigned 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 alignment between Bankston and Haleyville, joining SR-5 at Natural Bridge and making the north end of SR-5 an overlap with SR-13; US-43 has never been moved to this route.) In addition, SR-5 and SR-195 were swapped between Jasper and Haleyville, giving SR-5 a more direct route that had just been paved. This removed almost half of the original length of SR-5, making it a sideways V-shaped route with both ends at US-43 and the point at Birmingham.[10][11]

Major intersections

County Location Mile[1] 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 major intersections
Wilcox Catherine 28.103 SR 28 Interchange
Dallas 35.511
SR 66 west
Safford 36.770
SR 22 east
Browns 47.636 US 80 / SR 8 Interchange
Perry 58.709
SR 183 south 		South end of SR-183 overlap
Marion 61.183
SR 289 north 		Interchange
62.939
SR 183 north 		North end of SR-183 overlap
63.175 SR 14
69.857
SR 175 south
Bibb 80.830
SR 25 south 		South end of SR-25 overlap
Brent 83.848
SR 25 north 		North end of SR-25 overlap
87.498

US 82 / SR 6 / SR 219 Truck south – Tuscaloosa 		Interchange
92.227
SR 219 south
Woodstock 105.545

US 11 south / SR 7 south 		South end of US-11/SR-7 overlap
Tuscaloosa 108.616

I-20 west / I-59 south – Tuscaloosa 		South end of I-20/I-59 overlap; interchange (I-59 exit 97)
111.770
SR 216 west – Abernant, Bucksville 		Interchange (I-59 exit 100)
Jefferson 117.679
I-459 north – Gadsden, Montgomery, Atlanta 		Interchange (I-59 exit 106)
Bessemer 119.874

I-20 east / I-59 north – Birmingham 		North end of I-20/I-59 overlap; 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 US-11/SR-7 overlap; south end of US-78 overlap
134.576
I-20 / I-59 to I-65 – Downtown Birmingham, Tuscaloosa 		Interchange (I-59 exit 123)
137 Daniel Payne Drive Interchange
Adamsville 141.434 CR 65 (Minor Parkway) Interchange
Graysville 145.457
CR 12 west (Flat Top Road) – Graysville, Flat Top, West Jefferson 		Interchange
146.5 I-22 / SR 4 current end of overlap with US 78. US 78 now occupies future I-22 routing with Al. 4.
Walker Jasper 169.020 SR 69 (Industrial Parkway) beginning of south end of SR-69 overlap
172.182


SR 69 south to SR 118 west 		North end of SR-69 overlap; interchange
172.566
SR 195 north
Winston Natural Bridge 197.775 US 278 / SR 13 / SR 74

References

  1. ^ a b Alabama Department of Transportation, County Milepost Maps, accessed September 2007
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ Rand McNally Auto Road Atlas, 1926
  4. ^ State Highway Department of Alabama, System of State Roads, revised January 1, 1927
  5. ^ General Drafting Company, State Road Map of Alabama, Fall of 1928
  6. ^ General Drafting Company, State Road Map of Alabama, 1933
  7. ^ General Drafting Company, State Road Map of Alabama, November 1934
  8. ^ Alabama State Highway Department, Alabama Highways, 1949
  9. ^ Alabama State Highway Department, Alabama State Highway System, 1951
  10. ^ Alabama State Highway Department, 1955-1956 Official Highway Map
  11. ^ Alabama State Highway Department, Official 1957 Alabama Highway Map
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