Shades Creek Parkway

Shades Creek Parkway is an approximately 1-mile, northeast-southwest, divided highway paralleling the path of Shades Creek from Independence Drive in Homewood to Cahaba Road in Mountain Brook. It continues to the west as Lakeshore Drive and to the east as Mountain Brook Parkway. The parkway is also part of Alabama State Highway 149. The majority of the road is in the Homewood city limits, although the area surrounding the U.S. Highway 280 interchange, right up to Cahaba Road, is in unincorporated Jefferson County.

Shades Creek Parkway is at least four lanes for its entire length, with a median between the east- and west-bound lanes. It features a full cloverleaf interchange at Independence Drive (U.S. Highway 31) and a partial (two-leaf) cloverleaf interchange at U.S. Highway 280.

Shades Creek Parkway was built in the first half of the 20th century. The current Highway 280 interchange was built as part of the same highway project that created the Elton B. Stephens Expressway. Prior to that, Cahaba Road was the path of Highway 280 (also known as the Florida Short Route) where it encountered Shades Creek Parkway.

Notable locations

• Independence Drive interchange (R. H. "Bob" Wharton Bridge; continues west as Lakeshore Drive)
  • 400: Robins & Morton corporate headquarters
• Brookwood Boulevard intersection
  • 500: Courtyard by Marriott (former location of Hollywood Country Club)
  • 501: Compass Bank Brookwood branch
  • Single family homes
  • Brookwood Village (former location of Shades Creek Park (public park))
  • 720: Shades Valley Lutheran Church
• Luckie Drive intersection
• U.S. Highway 280 interchange
  • 800: Shades Creek Park (office park) (First Commercial Bank main office; formerly Southern Company Services)
  • 820: Office building, including B. L. Harbert International main office (formerly Southern Living headquarters)
• Cahaba Road intersection (continues east as Mountain Brook Parkway)