Alabama State Highway 79
Alabama State Highway 79 or Alabama State Route 79 is a 117-mile long route that extends northeastward from Birmingham to the Tennessee state line, where it continues as Tennessee State Route 16.
The southern terminus of Highway 79 is at the interchange of Tallapoosa Street with I-20/59 (Exit 128) near the western end of Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport. Prior to the completion of the interstate, Highway 79 continued southwest to the junction of U.S. Highway 31, U.S. Highway 78 and U.S. Highway 280 at 8th Avenue North and 24th Street in downtown Birmingham.
The Highway is addressed as Tallapoosa Street for only about a third of the mile, changing to Vanderbilt Road as it crosses East Lake Boulevard. From Jefferson Boulevard in Tarrant and through Pinson to Alabama State Highway 151 / Narrows Road it is known as Pinson Valley Parkway. From there to Bradford Road it is called New Bradford Highway. Beyond that point, the highway is known solely by its numerical designation.
A current proposal by the Alabama Department of Transportation would extend Finley Boulevard for four miles along the southern edge of Collegeville to connect to Highway 79 near East Lake Boulevard.
The highway is four-laned from Birmingham to a gap in Sand Mountain, where it passes under two Alabama Power transmission lines, one coming from the Miller Steam Plant. Through Tarrant the highway is heavily developed with industrial and commercial properties.
The highway narrows to two lanes as it runs through predominantly rural areas of northern Jefferson County, and then through Blount, Marshall and Jackson Counties. The only other cities along the route are Guntersville and Scottsboro.
North of Scottsboro, Highway 79 leads toward Winchester, Tennessee.
Major intersections
- I-20/59 in Birmingham
- Pine Hill Road in Tarrant
- Alabama State Highway 151 in Pinson
- Alabama State Highway 160 in Cleveland
- U.S. Highway 231 in Cleveland
- U.S. Highway 278 in Brooksville
- U.S. Highway 431 in Guntersville
- Alabama State Highway 69 in Guntersville
- Alabama State Highway 227 in Guntersville
- Alabama State Highway 279 in Scottsboro
- U.S. Highway 72 in Scottsboro
- Alabama State Highway 35 in Scottsboro
- Alabama State Highway 146 in Jackson County
- Tennessee State Route 16 at Tennessee state line
References
- MacDonald, Ginny (July 24, 2009) "Finley flyover plans draw interest from Collegeville." The Birmingham News
- "Alabama State Route 79" (September 13, 2014) Wikipedia - accessed November 26, 2014