Lock 17 Road

Lock 17 Road is a long road which runs from Rock Creek in western Jefferson County to Brookwood in eastern Tuscaloosa County. The road, which splits off into more than one route at its western end, is an important access road for Bankhead Dam and for many large strip mining operations in the Warrior Coal Bed.

The road is an extension of Warrior River Road (Jefferson County Road 46) from Bessemer, northwest through Hueytown and Concord. It takes the name "Lock 17 Road" at the intersection with Taylor's Ferry Road in Rock Creek and continues southwest, crossing Valley Creek and then bending back northwest to Oak Grove.

From Oak Grove, Lock 17 Road is Jefferson County Road 15, continuing west along the north bank of Jess Branch and re-crossing Valley Creek. The road crooks left at Nancy Ann Bend Road and then turns north as Road 15 continues south as Betty Hill Road. Lock 17 Road, now Jefferson County Road 54, continues northward along the east bank of Shoal Creek, crossing just as the creek widens into Bankhead Lake on the Black Warrior River.

The main route of Lock 17 Road makes a wide curve around to the south, joining Groundhog Road, but is also cut off by a shorter route with the same name. A separate section continues west from there toward the Harrigan Branch feeder to Bankhead Lake and across Bankhead Dam, turning north as Tuscaloosa County Road 38 and changing name to Blue Creek Road past Spencer Hill Church.

As Tuscaloosa County Road 59, the main route of Lock 17 Road continues south over Big Coal Bed Branch into the Antioch community and onward through Kellerman and Searles. The road terminates at its junction with Alabama State Highway 216 just west of Brookwood.