Independence Drive

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Independence Drive is the name given to U.S. Highway 31 through the Homewood city limits. It extends from the end of the Elton B. Stephens Expressway in the north to 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 there, 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 the early 1940s, Montgomery Highway was designated U.S. Route 31 and improved. This included a new, wider, straighter route up the north side of Shades Mountain, which is the current path of Independence Drive. It was in 1976 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

• 28th Avenue South/Bonita Drive intersection (end Elton B. Stephens Expressway)
• Oxmoor Road/Hollywood Boulevard intersection
  • 3001: Shades Cahaba Elementary School
  • 3030: CVS/pharmacy (formerly Big B Drugs)
• Lakeshore Drive intersection (R. H. "Bob" Wharton Bridge)
  • Shades Creek crossing
  • Brookwood Medical Center
• Brookwood Medical Center Drive intersection (Jim Bennett Bridge)
• Shades Crest Road intersection

References

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