U.S. Route 31

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U.S. Route 31

Length:

1,280^[1] mi (2,061 km)

Formed:

1926^[1]

South end:

near Spanish Fort, AL

Major
junctions:

US 82 at Montgomery, AL

I-459 in Hoover, AL
US 280 in Homewood, AL
I-20/I-59 at Birmingham, AL

/ ALT 72/AL 20 at Decatur, AL
US 72 in Athens, AL
US 41 in Nashville, TN
I-64 in Louisville, KY
I-74 at Indianapolis, IN
US 20 at South Bend, IN
I-80/I-90 IN Toll Rd at South Bend, IN
I-94 near Benton Harbor, MI
I-96 near Muskegon, MI
US 10 at Ludington, MI

North end:

near Mackinaw City, MI

United States Numbered Highways
U.S. Routes - Bannered - Divided - Replaced

U.S. Route 31 is a long north-south highway connecting northern Michigan to southern Alabama, with termini at Interstate 75 near Mackinaw City, Michigan, and U.S. Route 90 and U.S. Route 98 at Spanish Fort, Alabama. It formerly reached Mackinaw City along the southern approaches of the Mackinac Bridge (Interstate 75) in the north and downtown Mobile, Alabama in the south.

1 States Along the Route
2 Split Routes and Alternate Routes
- 2.1 "Parent/Child" Routes
3 History
4 Overlapped with Interstate 65
5 "Parent/Child" Routes
6 Cities along the route
7 See also
8 External links
9 References

[edit] States Along the Route

Michigan see U.S. Route 31 in Michigan for info on the highway in that state.
Indiana
Kentucky
Tennessee
Alabama. US 31 is paired with unsigned State Route 3 thoroughout the state.

[edit] Split Routes and Alternate Routes

U.S. Route 31 splits into:

U.S. Route 31W and U.S. Route 31E between downtown Louisville, Kentucky and Nashville, Tennessee; earlier US 31 split into US 31W and US 31E in Sellersburg, Indiana.
U.S. Route 31 Alternate exists between Nashville and Lewisburg, Tennessee and formerly through Columbus, Indiana and Seymour, Indiana;
Old US 31A in Indiana is part of State Road 11. both sections of US 31A are or were loops connecting to US 31.
Due to congested traffic conditions in Grand Haven, Michigan, Emergency U.S. Route 31 runs concurrent with Interstate 96 from Muskegon, Michigan to Coopersville, Michigan and concurrent with M-45 from Allendale, Michigan to just south of Grand Haven, Michigan, using 68th Avenue to connect them.

[edit] "Parent/Child" Routes

US 31 is the parent route of:

U.S. Route 131, almost entirely in Michigan
U.S. Route 231, which comes within a few miles of connecting Lake Michigan and the Gulf of Mexico
U.S. Route 331, connecting Montgomery, Alabama with Santa Rosa Beach, Florida . Although US 31 passes through Montgomery, it never intersects with US 331.
U.S. Route 431, connecting Owensboro, Kentucky and Dothan, Alabama has both its northern and southern termini on US 231, so one can argue that US 231 is the real parent of US 431.

[edit] History

Before the Interstate era, US 31 was a major north-south highway. Interstate 65 supplants US 31 and either 31W or 31E as a through route between Indianapolis and Mobile. South of Indianapolis, all segments of US 31 not coinciding with Interstate 65 have been reduced to roads largely of local use. Interstate 196 now carries the route of US 31 between Holland, Michigan and St. Joseph, Michigan. All of US 31 between Ludington, Michigan and Indianapolis, Indiana is divided highway; some of it is freeway, including a bypass route of South Bend, Indiana; the segment between South Bend and Indianapolis is scheduled for upgrade or replacement with Interstate-standard freeway. Environmental impact studies have shown that the fifth phase of the then-to-be-constructed freeway segment between Napier Avenue (near Benton Harbor, Michigan) and I-94 may not be complete until 2015.

The portion of I-75 north of US 31's northern terminus toward the Mackinac Bridge was designated US 31 prior to the 1990s and was US 31's most northern portion to be built to freeway status. Since its truncation at the I-75 junction, however, the most northern segment of US 31 freeway ends near Ludington.

[edit] Overlapped with Interstate 65

There is a disputed gap in US 31 between Athens, Alabama and Ardmore, Tennessee. For 14 miles (from Alabama mile marker 354 to Tennessee mile marker 1), US 31 is multiplexed with Interstate 65. There are no confirmation signs pairing the two routes in either state, aside from the directional signs at the entrance ramps in Athens and Ardmore. The multiplex is shown on official maps of both states. The original routing for the highway still exists as Alabama State Route 251 and Tennessee State Route 7 between Athens and Ardmore.

US 31 is also multiplexed with I-65 between Blount Springs, Alabama (Exit 289) and Hayden, Alabama (Exit 287). This is due to I-65 using US 31's right of way as North Central Alabama is rather mountainous.

US 31 is multiplexed in Jeffersonville, IN after crossing the bridge from Kentucky. It then diverges as the access frontage lanes before splitting off north of Jeffersonville, IN.

[edit] "Parent/Child" Routes

US 31 is the parent route of U.S. Route 131, almost entirely in Michigan; U.S. Route 231, which comes within a few miles of connecting Lake Michigan and the Gulf of Mexico; and U.S. Route 331, connecting Montgomery, Alabama with Santa Rosa Beach, Florida . U.S. Route 431, connecting Owensboro, Kentucky and Dothan, Alabama has both its northern and southern termini on US 231, so one can argue that US 231 is the real parent of US 431. Although US 31 passes through Montgomery, it never intersects with US 331.

[edit] Cities along the route

Cities in bold have a population of 50,000 or more.

Within the state of Alabama from Birmingham north to Decatur, the highway is known as Decatur Highway. From Birmingham south to Montgomery, US 31 is known as Montgomery Highway. North of Decatur, and South of Montgomery, the highway is referred to as Bee-Line Highway or simply "Highway 31".

In downtown Birmingham, the junction with I-20/I-59 serves also as the western terminus of U.S. Route 280. US 31 and US 280 overlap on the Elton B. Stephens (Red Mountain) Expressway, leading to the city's southern suburbs . There has been speculation that this freeway is the unsigned I-559. Highway officials in Alabama refute this speculation.

Historical Note: In the 1930s, US 31 continued at Saint Ignace across the Straits of Mackinac, and junctioned with U.S. Route 2 (Mackinac Trail and what later became M-123).

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] References

^ ^a ^b Droz, Robert V. U.S. Highways : From US 1 to (US 830). URL accessed 02:55, 4 July 2006 (UTC).

Browse numbered routes
< SR 30	AL		SR 32 >
< M-30	MI		M-31 >

		edit Main U.S. Routes
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38
40	41	42	43	44	45	46		48	49	50	51	52	53	54	55	56	57	58	59
60	61	62	63	64	65	66	67	68	69	70	71	72	73	74	75	76	77	78	79
80	81	82	83	84	85		87		89	90	91	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99
101		163						400				412				425
Lists		U.S. Routes - Bannered - Divided - Replaced


Heroes Highway	(future) Interstate 22	Interstate 59
Interstate 20	American Veterans Highway / Decatur Highway	US Route 280
Elton B. Stephens Expressway	Interstate 459	Montgomery Highway
Bessemer Superhighway	Crestwood Boulevard	Lakeshore Parkway