Messer Airport Highway

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Glenn E. Messer Airport Highway (formerly Airport Highway) is an east-west street serving as an extension of 5th Avenue North from downtown Birmingham to the Birmingham International Airport. It was named in honor of aviation pioneer Glenn E. Messer.

The city's maps show Messer Airport Highway extending all the way to the underpass at the former Birmingham Terminal Station, below 26th Street North and the Red Mountain Expressway. Some other maps suggest that 5th Avenue becomes Messer Airport Highway as it crosses 31st Street North. Addressing in the largely industrial zone between 26th and 31st streets is inconsistent.

The easternmost section forms a loop around the parking garages at the Birmingham International Airport. Messer Airport Highway is a two-way street for its entire length, the majority of which is four to five lanes wide.

Between 42nd Street and 44th Street, Messer Airport Highway is separated from 1st Avenue North by only a narrow, landscaped median. 1st Avenue is not accessible from Messer Airport Highway at this point, the closest links being 41st Street and 45th Place North. Two gas stations at either end of the narrow median use concrete barriers to prevent motorists from cutting through.

Messer Airport Highway is accessible from and to Interstate 20 and Interstate 59 at exit 129 in both directions.

Between 31st Street North and 33rd Street North, an underpass under the CSX railway line has suffered intermittent flooding problems for decades. Around the end of 2023, the flooding became persistent, and especially deep following rainstorms, requiring the rescue of people whose vehicles stalled while attempting to negotiate the floodwaters. Consequently the City of Birmingham installed Jersey barriers at both ends of the flooded section to block vehicular traffic, and that section of the highway remains closed as of February 2024.

Notable locations

For an alphabetical list of locations, see the Messer Airport Highway category.

References