Bessemer Super Highway: Difference between revisions

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*** 506: [[Adamson West]], former location of [[Bill Byrd Kia]]
*** 506: [[Adamson West]], former location of [[Bill Byrd Kia]]
*** 512: former location of [[Angry Revolt]] head shop
*** 512: former location of [[Angry Revolt]] head shop
*** 544: former location of [[Sound of Birmingham]] recording studio
*** 560: [[King Boyz Towing]] / [[U-Haul]] neighborhood dealer
*** 560: [[King Boyz Towing]] / [[U-Haul]] neighborhood dealer
*** 580: [[Midfield Paint, Body & Mechanic Shop]]
*** 580: [[Midfield Paint, Body & Mechanic Shop]]
Line 88: Line 89:
*** 5200: [[Great Start]] day care center
*** 5200: [[Great Start]] day care center
* [[Bessemer Avenue]] (north) / [[Martin Luther Avenue]] (south) intersects
* [[Bessemer Avenue]] (north) / [[Martin Luther Avenue]] (south) intersects
 
** North side
===[[Brighton]] (north side) / Birmingham's [[Roosevelt]] neighborhood (south side)===
*** [[Rose Avenue]], access to [[Bon-Aire Community]]
* [[Rose Avenue]] intersects ([[Bon-Aire Community]])
*** 5170: former location of [[Anthony Underwood Automotive]] (2011-2014)
*** 5170: former location of [[Anthony Underwood Automotive]] (2011-2014)
*** 5000: former location of [[Piggly-Wiggly]], [[Sav U Foods]] (-2012)
*** 5000: former location of [[Piggly-Wiggly]], [[Sav U Foods]] (-2012)
** South side (Birmingham's [[Roosevelt]] neighborhood)
*** 4901: [[Intensive Care Beauty Salon]]
*** 4901: [[Intensive Care Beauty Salon]]
*** 4601: [[Birmingham Fire Station No. 11 (2005)]]
*** 4601: [[Birmingham Fire Station No. 11 (2005)]]
*** 4545: [[Fantasyland Restaurant]], former location of [[Whitson's Famous Foods]], [[Fantasyland]] bingo parlor
*** 4541: [[El Molcajete]]
*** 4539: [[Ace Motel]]
* end of Birmingham's [[Roosevelt]] neighborhood
** 4510: [[Diamond Club]] (2014-), former location of [[Auto Movies #1]], [[Club Grasshopper]], [[Palace Bingo]]
** 4500: [[My Store]] / [[Exxon]] gas station
** 4517: [[George's Auto Parts]] / [[RCP Auto Parts]], former location of [[Wigwam Village|Wigwam Village #5]] motor court
** 4513: [[Super Highway Auto Sales]]


===[[Brighton]]===
===[[Bessemer]]===
*** 4539: [[Ace Motel]]
* [[Valley Creek]] passes below
*** 4517: [[RCP Auto Parts]], former location of [[Wigwam Village|Wigwam Village #5]] motor court
** 4422: [[Sublett Portable Buildings]]
*** 4510: [[Club Grasshopper]]
* [[Brewer Drive]] intersects (south only)
*** 4500: [[Exxon]] gas station
** South side
*** 4400: [[Holiday Mobile Home Park]]
*** 4341: [[Family Dollar]]
*** 4341: [[Family Dollar]]
*** 4315-4321: [[Holiday Bowl]] (built 1959)
*** 4325: [[Boost Mobile]]
*** 4321: [[Holiday Bowl]] (built 1959 at 4315 Bessemer Super Highway)
*** 4319: [[Metro by T-Mobile]]
*** 4301: [[Hiway Host Motel]] (originally the first [[Holiday Inn]] in Alabama and the first location of [[Michael's]] steak house)
*** 4301: [[Hiway Host Motel]] (originally the first [[Holiday Inn]] in Alabama and the first location of [[Michael's]] steak house)
*** 4201: [[Terrace Oaks Care & Rehabilitation Center]]
*** 4105: [[Auto West Bumpers & Grills]]
*** 4101: [[Middlebrooks Truck & Equipment]]
*** 4005: [[Taqueria Los Diaz]] / [[Los Diaz Tienda Mexicana]], former location of [[Cuernos Chuecos]], [[Carniceria y Taqueria La Vaquita]]
*** 3829: [[Brothers Fireworks]]
*** 3825: [[World Famous High Roller]] event center
*** 3801: [[Austin Auto Parts]]
*** entrance to [[Woodward Estates Mobile Home Park]]
*** 3551: [[Life Storage]]
*** 3345: [[Discount Auto Salvage]]
*** 3321: [[Dollar Tree]]
** North side
*** 4412: former location of [[La Plasita]] tienda (2011-2015)
*** 4400: [[Brighton Christian Memorial]] (2015-), former location of [[Brighton Funeral Home Services]] (-2015)
*** 4330: [[Holiday Mobile Home Park]]
*** 4200: [[Long Lewis Western Star]]
*** 4200: [[Long Lewis Western Star]]
*** 4201: [[Terrace Oaks Care & Rehabilitation Center]]
*** 4006: [[Anthony Underwood Automotive]] (2015-)
*** 4006: [[Anthony Underwood Automotive]] (2015-)
*** 4005: [[Los Diaz Tienda Mexicana]]
*** 4000: [[EJ's Sports Bar & Grill]]
*** 3824: former location of [[Lester Mulligan Automotive]]
*** 3416½: [[N & N Uniforms]]
*** 3410: [[Aligment Tire]]
*** 3404: [[P. A. Tire Shop & Towing]]
*** 3200: [[Bessemer Food Store]]
* [[Birmingham Southern Railroad]] crosses (road continues as [[9th Avenue North Bessmer]])






===[[Bessemer]]===
:''Addresses in downtown Bessemer are generally on [[9th Avenue North]].''
** [[Auto Movies #1]] (Alabama's first drive-in cinema and the 17th in the US)
** [[Sound of Birmingham]] recording studio
** [[Whitson's Famous Foods]]
* [[19th Street North Bessemer]] intersection (continues as [[9th Avenue North]])
* [[Bessemer veterans memorial]]


==References==
==References==

Revision as of 16:51, 26 December 2018

This article is about the highway, for the hip hop album, see 2Lue.

Bessemer Super Highway (or Bessemer Superhighway, originally the Birmingham-Bessemer Boulevard) is the section of U. S. Highway 11 connecting the cities of Bessemer and Birmingham. Between Border Street and Western Hills Mall, it is called Bessemer Road.

The divided four-lane highway, the first in the state, replaced a circuitous route through West End, Powderly and Lipscomb which was slowed by numerous railroad grade crossings. It was designed in the 1930s by Alabama State Highway Department engineers who used the German Autobahn system as a model. The chosen route followed a nearly straight line from 3rd Avenue West in Fairview, past the Alabama State Fairgrounds at Five Points West to 19th Street North in the heart of downtown Bessemer. It continues through Bessemer as 9th Avenue North.

As the project proceeded, many of the rail lines along the route were elevated on steel and concrete trestles to bridge over the highway. The new highway itself was raised onto a long viaduct, later named the Mary Bryant Bridge, as it crossed over rail yards on the way into Bessemer.

Due to the shortage of funds prevailing during the Great Depression, the State set aside plans to build large interchanges that would allow for limited freeway access. Had it been built according to the initial designs, the Bessemer Super Highway would have been distinguished, ahead of the Merritt Parkway in Connecticut and the Pennsylvania Turnpike, as the first freeway in the United States. In 1940 the highway department did install lighting along the entire route, thus creating what was, at the time, the longest "white way" east of the Rocky Mountains.

The Super Highway, as it quickly came to be known, spurred the development of new businesses catering to the driving public in the post-World War II boom. The corridor's economic growth continued nearly unabated until the completion of I-59/20.

In 2010 the Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham proposed a revitalization plan for the Super Highway anchored by improved mass transit. The transit corridor would include primary stops at Five Points West, Aaron Aronov Drive/B. Y. Williams Drive, downtown Bessemer, Academy Drive, and Eastern Valley Road. Commercial revitalization would be encouraged at those intersections.

Notable locations

Midfield

Brighton

Bessemer



References

  • Holley, Joe (n. d.) "Bessemer Super Highway" Archiblog/AL.com
  • Norris, Toraine (April 27, 2010) "Plans in works to revitalize Bessemer Superhighway area." The Birmingham News
  • Norris, Toraine (April 27, 2010) "History of Bessemer Superhighway." The Birmingham News
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