U.S. Highway 31

U.S. Highway 31 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 Route 3. In downtown Birmingham, the junction with I-20/I-59 serves also as the western terminus of Highway 280.

History

Before the Interstate era, U.S. 31 was a major north-south highway. Interstate 65 supplants US 31 and either 31W or 31E as a through route between Indianapolis and Mobile.

In Birmingham, the original route of U.S. 31 was west of its current location, taking it through downtown to where 19th Street South (now Richard Arringon Jr. Boulevard South) crosses 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 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.

Alternate Names

Within the state of Alabama from Decatur to Montgomery, U.S. 31 is largely given the name of the city that Route 31 is leading to or from Birmingham. From Birmingham north to Decatur, the highway is known as Decatur Highway. From Birmingham south to Montgomery, U.S. 31 is known as Montgomery Highway. North of Decatur, and South of Montgomery, the highway is referred to as Bee-Line Highway or simply "Highway 31".

Within the Birmingham area, U.S. 31 is assigned various street names. From about 37th Avenue North to Finley Boulevard, U.S. 31 is also 26th Street North. From Finley to the I-20/I-59 interchange, it is known as Carraway Boulevard. Starting at the I-20/I-59 interchange, U.S. 31 and U.S. 280 overlap on the controlled-access Elton B. Stephens Expressway, more popularly known to residents as the Red Mountain expressway, going through the Red Mountain cut to Homewood. 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. In a portion of Pelham, it's known as Pelham Parkway.

"Parent/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

- Cities bolded are major cities containing 50,000 or more people.

• Pelston, Michigan
• Kokomo, Indiana
• Indianapolis, Indiana
• Columbus, Indiana
• Louisville, Kentucky
• Fort Knox, Kentucky: on US 31W
• Bowling Green, Kentucky: on US 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