Anniston Eastern Bypass

The Anniston Eastern Bypass is a project underway to build a four to six lane highway, two miles east of downtown Anniston, Alabama and downtown Oxford. Since the early 90s, bypasses have been planned on both sides of town to alleviate traffic on Quintard Avenue, the main north/south traffic artery in the region. Despite being planned for years, construction did not begin until after receiving funding in a 2009 economic stimulus bill.[1] Prior to the start of construction, archeological work on part of the route that passed through Fort McClellan located Native American spearpoints and an American Civil War homestead.[2]

The bypass will run from McIntosh Road (in southeast Oxford) across I-20 following the Golden Springs Road route and cross the Choccolocco Foothills cutting back into US 431 where it hits into AL 21 on McClellan Blvd. It is complete from McIntosh Road to US 431 (five lanes total). The northern portion, which began construction in 2010,[3] is built with two at-grade intersections (McClellan Bypass and Summerall Road) and one trumpet interchange (AL 21/McClellan Blvd). Much development has been the result of this highway in the past decade along I-20 in Oxford and it is regarded as a way to redevelop McClellan as well as north Anniston.[4][5]

The total cost of the project is estimated at $150 million, and the final stretch of the road to be constructed is complete as of December 2015, with work ongoing on the U.S. 431 tie-in. US 431 follows this route from I-20 northward.

A crash in the area of the bypass near Coleman Road in Anniston on July 7, 2017, killed one person and injured several after a tractor trailer reportedly did not stop at a red light, hit four cars, and then landed off the road.[6] Jimmy Goodwin, a Weaver, Alabama, native, was identified as the deceased victim of the accident. Prior accidents also caused the deaths of Billy & Kimberly Jones in December 2016 and of Tyree Hunter in March 2017, with the editorial board of The Anniston Star calling for the Alabama Department of Transportation and other local entities to address the repeated occurrence of fatal accidents.[7]

References

Route map: Google

KML is from Wikidata
  1. ↑ Goodman, Sherri C. (February 13, 2009). "Anniston bypass, Huntsville overpass are big winners if Obama OKs stimulus plan". The Birmingham News. Retrieved April 16, 2014.
  2. ↑ Eubanks, Jamie M. (January 26, 2001). "Archaeologists Make Incredible Discoveries in Foothills of Choccolocco Mountain". JSU News. Jacksonville, AL: Jacksonville State University. Retrieved April 16, 2014.
  3. ↑ Smith, George (February 10, 2010). "Eastern Bypass to vault over Alabama 21". The Anniston Star. Archived from the original on April 17, 2014. Retrieved April 16, 2014.
  4. ↑ Richardson, Robert (December 19, 2013). "Governor Bentley breaks ground on Veterans Memorial Parkway". Birmingham, AL: WBMA-LD. Retrieved April 16, 2014.
  5. ↑ Anderson, Brian (January 14, 2014). "Weaver council seeks to annex property along Alabama 21". The Anniston Star. Retrieved April 16, 2014.
  6. ↑ Burkhalter, Eddie (July 7, 2017). "Weaver man killed in five-vehicle wreck on U.S. 431 in Golden Springs". The Anniston Star. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
  7. ↑ The Anniston Star's editorial board (July 7, 2017). "An answer for Anniston's deadly intersection". The Anniston Star. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
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