U.S. Highway 31

U.S. Highway 31 (also officially known as U.S. Route 31), sometimes known locally as Decatur Highway and Montgomery Highway, is a long north-south highway connecting northern Michigan to southern Alabama, with termini at Interstate 75 near Mackinaw City, Michigan, and U.S. Highway 90 and U.S. Highway 98 at Spanish Fort, Alabama. It formerly reached Mackinaw City along the southern approaches of the Mackinac Bridge (Interstate 75) in the north and downtown Mobile, Alabama in the south.

Throughout Alabama, U.S. 31 is paired with unsigned State Highway 3. In downtown Birmingham, the junction with I-20/I-59 serves also as the western terminus of U.S. Highway 280.

History

Before the Interstate era, U.S. 31 was the major north-south highway in Alabama, connecting most of the state's major cities at the time: Decatur, Birmingham, Montgomery, and Mobile. Interstate 65 has supplanted U.S. 31 along this route. The section from Nashville to Montgomery was made part of the Bee-Line Highway under the National Auto Trails program. From Montgomery, the Bee-Line continued through Dothan, Tallhassee and Gainesville to its terminus at Orlando.

Birmingham/Homewood

Red Mountain Expressway, looking north from Highland Avenue

In Birmingham, the original route of U.S. 31 was west of its current location. From the 1950s (or earlier) to the 1970s, it entered downtown from the north on 26th Street as it does now. It then went over two blocks on 8th Avenue North to 24th Street North. The highway then proceeded south on 24th Street to 7th Avenue South, where it went west to 20th Street South. It then proceeded south to where 20th and 21st Street South (now Richard Arrington Jr Boulevard South) merge and cross over Red Mountain. It then continued south on 18th Street South through Homewood, around The Curve to 29th Avenue South and around another curve to what is now called Independence Drive. In the late 1960s, the Red Mountain cut was made to give the highway a straighter and flatter route between Birmingham and Homewood.

The route of 31 has also shifted along the northern slope of Shades Mountain. The older portion still exists as Old Montgomery Highway, branching off of Independence Drive to the east across from Saulter Road. It travels southeast, then turns southwest to cross the current route of 31. It then goes south, crossing Lakeshore Drive and winds up Shades Mountain to the top, rejoining the existing 31.

Hoover/Pelham

In what is now Hoover, U.S. 31 once took a less direct route. This route still exists as Lorna Road starting just south of where I-65 crosses over 31. It continues south to the east of 31 over I-459 and then curves west, crossing 31 at the Riverchase Galleria. It then winds south, changing names from Lorna Road to Old Montgomery Highway, crossing Helena Road just before rejoining 31 at a segment named Pelham Parkway.

Alternate names

From Decatur to Birmingham, it is alternately known as the Decatur Highway. In Fultondale, it is also called American Veterans Highway.

In North Birmingham, from 37th Avenue North to Finley Boulevard, U.S. 31 is also 26th Street North, which becomes Carraway Boulevard as it crosses Finley and approaches the I-20/59 interchange near the BJCC.

From that point, the combined Highway 31 and U. S. Highway 280 are elevated through town and are jointly called the Elton B. Stephens Expressway. This portion is popularly called Red Mountain Expressway as there is a large highway cut through Red Mountain to allow the expressway to continue south into Homewood.

Just inside the Homewood city limits, Highway 280 splits off to run southeast while Highway 31 continues south. Through the Homewood city limits, from the end of the controlled access expressway to about Shades Crest Road, U.S. 31 is known as Independence Drive. Through Vestavia Hills and Hoover it is called Montgomery Highway. In Pelham it's known as Pelham Parkway, while in Alabaster it is 1st Street.

Child routes

U.S. 31 is the parent route of Highway 131, almost entirely in Michigan; Highway 231, which comes within a few miles of connecting Lake Michigan and the Gulf of Mexico; Highway 331, connecting Montgomery, Alabama with Santa Rosa Beach, Florida; and Highway 431, connecting Owensboro, Kentucky and Dothan, Alabama.

Cities along the route

Bolded cities contain 50,000 or more people.

• Pelston, Michigan
• Kokomo, Indiana
• Indianapolis, Indiana
• Columbus, Indiana
• Louisville, Kentucky
• Fort Knox, Kentucky: on U.S. 31W
• Bowling Green, Kentucky: on U.S. 31W
• Nashville, Tennessee
• Decatur, Alabama
• Birmingham District
  • Warrior, Alabama
  • Kimberly, Alabama
  • Morris, Alabama
  • Gardendale, Alabama
  • Fultondale, Alabama
  • Birmingham, Alabama
  • Homewood, Alabama
  • Vestavia Hills, Alabama
  • Hoover, Alabama
  • Pelham, Alabama
  • Alabaster, Alabama
• Montgomery, Alabama
• Spanish Fort, Alabama

References

• "U.S. Route 31." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 24 July 2006, 11:52 UTC [1]. Accessed 24 July 2006
• 7.5 Minute Quadrangles of Jefferson County [2]. Accessed 25 September 2006.