Independence Drive

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Independence Drive is the name given to the approximately 1-3/4 mile stretch of U.S. Highway 31 in the Homewood city limits that is not part of the Elton B. Stephens Expressway. It extends from the end of the expressway in the north to almost the top of Shades Mountain to the south.

History

Originally, the section of road north of 29th Avenue South to the Homewood city limits was known as East Avenue. South of that point, it was Montgomery Highway. Prior to the creation of the Red Mountain cut, going north the highway followed what is now 29th Avenue and crossed the mountain on what is now 18th Street South.

In 1937, East Avenue was improved as a so-called "Trailer Route" with gentler curves than the existing Montgomery Highway. The improvements created a wider, straighter route up the north side of Shades Mountain, the current path of Independence Drive. In the early 1940s the R. H. "Bob" Wharton Bridge, part of the cloverleaf intersection at Lakeshore Drive, was built and the highway was designated U.S. Route 31.

It was in 1976, the American Bicentennial, that Homewood officials renamed the road in honor of "all Homewood citizens, past or future, who sacrifice their lives for freedom" (Summe, p. 233).

Notable locations

For an alphabetical list of locations, see the Independence Drive category.

Only intersections with traffic lights or overpasses are included. There are several additional intersections with residential roads.

• 28th Avenue South/Ventura Avenue intersection (continues north as Elton B. Stephens Expressway)
  • 1: Independence Plaza (formerly an AmSouth building, former site of Vulcan Motor Lodge)
• 29th Avenue South intersection
  • 2907: former location of Jack O'Lantern tea room and supper club
• Oxmoor Road/Hollywood Boulevard intersection
  • 3000: Piggly-Wiggly (formerly a Hill's Food Store)
  • 3001: Shades Cahaba Elementary School
  • 3030: CVS/pharmacy (formerly a Big B Drugs)
  • 3048: Forbes Piano & Organ Company
• Poinciana Drive intersection
• Mayfair Drive intersection
  • 3310: The Alabama Baptist
• Saulter Road/Old Montgomery Highway intersection
  • 3349: The Compounding Shoppe
  • 3490: American Mining Insurance Company
• Old Montgomery Highway intersection
  • 3551: Shades Valley Branch YMCA
• Lakeshore Drive/Shades Creek Parkway intersection (R. H. "Bob" Wharton Bridge)
  • Shades Creek crossing
  • Brookwood Medical Center
• Brookwood Medical Center Drive intersection (Jim Bennett Bridge)
• Homewood city limits (continues south as Montgomery Highway in Vestavia Hills)

References

• Summe, Sheryl Spradling. (2001). Homewood: The Life of a City. Homewood, AL: Friends of the Homewood Public Library.