Oporto-Madrid Boulevard

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Oporto-Madrid Boulevard is an approximately 3⅓-mile, major north-south thoroughfare on Birmingham's east side, traversing the East Lake, Roebuck-South East Lake, and Crestline communities. Between 1st Avenue North and about 77th Way South, it is actually the border between the East Lake and Roebuck-South East Lake communities.

Oporto-Madrid Boulevard North begins at 75th Street North, near — thanks to efforts to match the names of the streets of the various annexed street grids to the downtown street grid — both 47th Avenue North and 6th Avenue North. It continues southeast, passing under Interstate 59, then crossing Division Avenue and becoming Oporto-Madrid Boulevard South, to 77th Way where it turns south. The road then becomes an overpass over Red Gap, also crossing over Georgia Road and the Alabama Great Southern, Southern, and Central of Georgia railways that go through the gap. Shortly after resuming being a grade level road, it crosses under Interstate 20 and continues south to intersect U.S. Highway 78 (Crestwood Boulevard) and Montclair Road. Oporto-Madrid then officially ends at Montevallo Road, although the route actually continues south a couple more blocks as the residential Redwood Street.

History

Oporto-Madrid Boulevard was originally three separately-named streets. The northernmost portion, heading northwest-southeast, was 77th Street. Its route ran near the site of the first homes in the area, erected in the late 1810s. The settlement later became Ruhamah. Where the road changes from northwest-southeast to north-south, at 77th Way South, was originally the intersection of 77th and Madrid Avenue. The former intersection has since been converted to a smoother curve. A portion of 77th Street still retains that name extending east from 77th Way.

Madrid Avenue originally extended from 77th to Georgia Road. A small portion of the original Madrid still exists from 65th Street South to Georgia Road. For over half the 20th century, to cross the three railways in Red Gap, traffic had to use a road originally named Jefferson Avenue, which intersected Georgia Road about 1,000 feet east of Madrid.

The southernmost portion of what's now Oporto-Madrid, Jefferson Avenue originally extended from Georgia Road south to Oxmoor-Irondale Road (now Montevallo Road). It spanned Red Gap and the three railroads by means of a wooden bridge. Just south of the gap, it was paralleled for a few blocks by Porter Avenue. Sometime between the mid-1940s and early 1950s, the two roads were renamed as Naples and Oporto Avenues to match the two roads east of Madrid on the north side of Red Gap. During this same period, the road south to Montevallo Road was rerouted to feed in to Porter/Oporto instead of Jefferson/Naples. Likewise, Naples was slightly rerouted near Red Gap to make it easier for traffic to access Oporto. The surrounding roads were removed by the mid-1950s, leaving only Oporto Avenue south of Red Gap. Some maps list it as Oporto Road. The original Oporto Avenue north of Red Gap remains as a two-block residential street.

The southern end of Jefferson/Porter/Oporto Avenue where it met Montclair and Montevallo Roads also shifted over time. In the mid-20th century, it came down to Montclair, then jogged over eastward to connect to Montevallo at Shades Avenue. This small section between Montclair and Montevallo is now named Oporto Way.

In 1962, work was completed widening Oporto to four lanes from Montevallo Road to the Atlanta Highway. As this project was wound up, a new overpass connecting Oporto and Madrid was designated as the top priority of all overpass projects in the city. The new overpass would span the rail lines and also Georgia Road. The original proposal included a ramp connecting Georgia with the overpass near where the two roads crossed, but this ramp was ultimately not built. Planning and construction of the overpass was supported with funds from highway construction bonds issued by the city in April 1963 and a federal Accelerated Public Works Program grant awarded to the city in August of the same year.

Within a few years, Oporto was rerouted with a new bridge built over the railroad tracks, connecting it directly to a rerouted Madrid. The remaining section of Oporto Avenue's original route south of Red Gap was renamed Lawson Field Road and the wooden bridge demolished. The rest of this southern Oporto Avenue's route was incorporated into the renamed Oporto-Madrid Boulevard (which also included the former 77th Street) during redevelopment projects that included Eastwood Mall, Century Plaza, and I-20.

Notable locations

For an alphabetical list of locations, see the Oporto-Madrid Boulevard category.
For clarity, not all intersections are included. Odd numbers are on the east side, even on the west.

East Lake community

East Lake/Roebuck-South East Lake

East Lake community

Crestline community

References

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