Memorial Parkway (Huntsville, Alabama)

Memorial Parkway
	Memorial Parkway at Governors Drive
Length	18.3 mi (29.5 km)
Location	Huntsville, Alabama
North end	Bob Wade Lane; (continues as US 231/431)
Major; junctions	US 72 East / Sparkman Drive ; US 72 West / University Drive ; Interstate 565 ; Alabama 53 / Governors Drive ; US 431 / Governors Drive
South end	Tennessee River ; (continues as US 231)

Last updated May 15, 2024

Memorial Parkway, also known as the Parkway, is a major thoroughfare in Huntsville, Alabama ^[2] that carries over 100,000 vehicles on average a day.^[3] It, in whole or in part, follows U.S. Route 231, U.S. Route 431, U.S. Route 72, and State Route 53 through the Huntsville city limits.^[4] It is a limited access road through most of Huntsville city proper, providing exits to the frontage road which allows access to road intersections, as well as businesses and residences along the route.^[5] Both the limited access and frontage roads are referred to as Memorial Parkway. Originally constructed to bypass downtown Huntsville^[6] and officially opened on December 1, 1955, the highway is the major commercial thoroughfare through Huntsville, a status it has held since the mid-1960s.^[5]^[7]^[8]

General plan and structure

The limited access portions of the Parkway contain eight to ten lanes of traffic; in each direction there are two to three lanes of limited-access traffic, paralleled by a two-lane, one-way frontage road. At major intersections, the limited-access lanes overpass the intersecting road with a "camel back" type overpass, while the frontage roads have a signal-controlled intersection with the intersecting road. At each overpass, there is a Texas U-turn configuration – a pair of turn lanes that permit traffic on the frontage roads to make U-turns between the northbound and southbound frontage roads without having to go through the signalized intersection. Generally, in between overpasses, there exists a pair of entrance and exit ramps that allow traffic to transition between the limited-access lanes and the parallel frontage road. Other than at intersections with overpasses, traffic on the frontage road always has the right of way vs. intersecting streets and driveways and there are no other traffic signals. The frontage roads do not exist between the University Drive and Clinton Avenue overpasses; here through traffic must merge into the limited-access lanes.

There are two intersections where the Parkway crosses under the intersecting road, at Martin Road and Interstate 565. At the I-565 interchange, it is possible for Parkway traffic to make a U-turn by executing a sequence of ramp lane changes, although no signage indicates this.

Most of the non-limited access portions within the Huntsville city limits consist of six through lanes, three in each direction, separated by a median. There are no frontage roads on these portions. Most of the portion north of the Mastin Lake Road intersection consists of four lanes, two in each direction.

Route description

From the south, US 231 / Alabama 53 enters Madison County and the city limits of Huntsville over the Tennessee River via the Clement C. Clay Bridge, which is also known as Whitesburg Bridge. From there, the four lane US 231 takes the name of Memorial Parkway and travels north passing Hobbs Island Road where it widens to six lanes.

Memorial Parkway passes to the east of a Sanmina-SCI Corporation production plant, crossing over Green Cove Road. From there, it continues north, passing beside various businesses and farm lands. The Parkway intersects Hobbs Road just south of the first major shopping center of many, the Southeast Plaza Shopping Center. Continuing due north, the Parkway passes Mountain Gap Road and Meadowbrook Drive.

Just north of Meadowbrook Drive, the first of many overpasses start. Vehicles are directed to exit here to access both Whitesburg Drive and Weatherly Road. Just north of Weatherly Road, the Parkway's controlled access highway merges back to a six-lane highway with traffic signals at Lily Flagg Road and Byrd Spring Road. (Previously existing signals at Charlotte Drive and Boulevard South were removed in July 2016.) Then a series of overpasses start just north of Martin Road; the first is Golf Road, followed by Airport Road, passing by John Hunt Park.

Following Airport Road, there is a "useless" overpass, as it is referred to by locals since it crosses over no other roadway. This overpass was originally constructed to provide a convenient U-turn as well as allow quicker access to businesses alongside the Parkway.^[4] The Parkway continues north with overpasses at Drake and Bob Wallace Avenues, where it passes by Parkway Place Mall.

At Governors Drive, Alabama 53 splits off and travels west and US 231 begins its overlap with US 431. The Parkway continues north with an overpass at Clinton Ave / Holmes Avenue with a full interchange with Interstate 565; this interchange is sometimes referred to as Malfunction Junction. The Parkway has an overpass at US 72 West/University Drive where an additional overlap with US 72 begins. An overpass at Oakwood Ave leads to a recently constructed overpass over Max Luther Drive and Sparkman Drive, where the overlap with US 72 ends as it splits off to the east. The Parkway continues north with at-grade intersection at Mastin Lake Road, which is planned to have an overpass built by 2021.^[9] Memorial Parkway continues north passing by Alabama A&M University with at-grade intersections at Winchester Road, Meridian Street, and Bob Wade Lane, where the Parkway officially ends and the route continues as US 231/431.

History

US 231 originally ran down through the center of Huntsville following Meridian Street and Whitesburg Drive through Downtown. Memorial Parkway was built as a four-lane highway in the 1950s to bypass downtown. At the time, the only overpass crossed over Holmes Avenue, with ramps providing access from and to the Parkway. In the early 1960s, the overpass was extended to make it also span Clinton Avenue. There were traffic signals at every other major intersection, plus a number of secondary intersections, many of which were eliminated over the years as part of the limited-access construction. With the establishment of the U.S. Army Missile Command at Redstone Arsenal, and the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in the 1960s, Huntsville underwent massive population growth, and, as a result, traffic increased.^[6] State and City leaders started planning to make the Parkway a limited access highway and the second overpass, the "useless" overpass, opened in 1969.

In 1973, the Drake Avenue overpass officially opened, followed by an overpass at Bob Wallace Avenue in 1976. An overpass at Governors Drive opened in 1978. In 1986, the University Drive overpass opened, and in the 1990s, overpasses at Airport Road, Golf Road, and Oakwood Avenue opened making a controlled access highway throughout much of the city.

In 1992, the interchange with I-565 opened. The interchange includes a mix of cloverleaf and fly-over ramps to provide full merge-in and merge-out access to both routes. As part of this construction, the original Clinton and Holmes overpasses were torn down and replaced with wider ones incorporating the necessary merge lanes.

In December 2009, overpasses at Whitesburg Drive and Weatherly Road in South Huntsville opened to the public;^[10] and an overpass over Sparkman Drive, Max Luther Drive, and US 72 East opened on April 10, 2012.^[11] Prior to 2018, a non-controlled portion of the Parkway remained from the Whitesburg Drive to Martin Road exits, but the construction of new limited-access lanes were completed in 2018, with the previous route becoming frontage roads.^[12] As of 2018, the Parkway is fully limited-access from the aforementioned Sparkman Drive exit in the north to just north of Meadowbrook Drive in the south.^{[ citation needed ]}

Expansion

Memorial Parkway's limited access portion is being expanded to include interchanges and frontage roads at various cross streets along the Parkway. Overpasses are currently planned for the Parkway's intersections with Winchester Road and Mastin Lake Road on the north side, and Hobbs Road, Green Cove Road, and Hobbs Island Road on the south side. Estimated completion dates for significant current Parkway projects are statuses in a quarterly Construction Bulletin^[13] from the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT)'s Bureau of Transportation Planning.

The City of Huntsville is planning construction of a multi-modal bridge to be used by for pedestrians and bicyclist to cross over Memorial Parkway between the interchanges of Holmes Avenue and Governors Drive.^[14]^[15] This bridge will be a part of the larger Singing River Trail of North Alabama.^[16]^[17]^[18]

North side

Walker Lane^[19]
Patterson Lane^[19]
Meridianville Bottom Road^[19]
Winchester Road^[19]
Mastin Lake Road^[19]

South side

Mountain Gap Road/Hobbs Road^[19]
Green Cove Road^[19]
Hobbs Island Road^[19]

In popular culture

Professional baseball player Jose Canseco earned the nickname "Parkway Jose" while playing with the Huntsville Stars for his ability to hit home runs over the outfield fence at Joe Davis Stadium.^[20]

Intersections

The entire route is in Huntsville, Madison County.

mi^[1]	km	Destinations	Notes
		Hobbs Island Road
		Green Cove Road
		Hobbs Road	Leads to Redstone Arsenal Gate 3
		Redstone Road
		English Drive
		Mountain Gap Road
		Mythewood Drive
		Meadowbrook Drive
Begin Controlled Access
		Whitesburg Drive
		Weatherly Road	Leads to the site of the new Grissom High School
		Lily Flagg Road	Overpass opened August 2018
		Byrd Spring Road	Overpass opened August 2018
		Martin Road	Leads to Redstone Arsenal Gate 1. As of July 2017, the previous temporary ramp configuration and detours have been removed, along with all of the old ramps, and the interchange is in its final configuration, including the only underpass for the controlled access portion of the route. This significantly impacts the Martin Road traffic over the previous configuration that better moved the traffic through that area. Now the Martin Road traffic has to navigate a new signaled intersections which substantially slows the traffic flow over the original cloverleaf design which required no stopping.
		Golf Road
		Airport Road	Leads to John Hunt Park
		Drake Avenue	Leads to Redstone Arsenal Gate 8, Parkway Place Mall and Brahan Spring Park
		Bob Wallace Avenue
316.864	509.943	US 431 south (Governors Drive)	Begin overlap with US 431. End overlap with SR 53.
		Clinton Avenue	Access Downtown Huntsville
		I-565
		US 72 (US-72 West/University Drive)	Begin overlap with US 72
		Oakwood Avenue
		Max Luther Drive
		US 72 (US-72 East) and Sparkman Drive	End overlap with US 72
End Controlled Access
		Mastin Lake Road	Will be upgraded to controlled access intersection in 2021
		Winchester Road
		Bob Wade Lane
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

Exit list

Destinations	Notes
Meadowbrook Drive West	Southbound exit only
Whitesburg Drive, Weatherly Road	Also exit for Cameron Road but not signed.
Byrd Spring Road, Lily Flagg Rd, Logan Drive	Opened August 2018, southbound exit provides access to Charlotte Drive
Martin Road	This exit provides direct access to Redstone Arsenal Gate 1. On the southbound side, the directional sign also lists Byrd Spring Road; it is necessary to exit and go through the Martin Road interchange to reach Byrd Spring Road. A secondary sign also notes that this ramp provides access to Vermont Road and Boulevard South, which are not accessible from the northbound lanes. Routing in this area is still being revised due to the construction of the Byrd Spring Road and Lily Flagg road interchanges, and not all signage is in its final configuration. Martin Road is one of the two interchanges where the Parkway crosses under the intersecting road; at all other interchanges other than the I-565 interchange, the Parkway overpasses the intersecting road.
Golf Road	Although the southbound ramp includes signed access to Jones Valley Drive, it is necessary to make a u-turn at Golf Road and continue one-third of a mile northbound to Jones Valley Drive.
Airport Road	The northbound ramp also includes access to Jones Valley Drive.
Drake Avenue	Going northbound, Drake Avenue appears to have two exits because there is a sign that will guide drivers to exit in time for the useless overpass, and another at the appropriate place to exit for Drake Avenue. Both exits lead to the same frontage road. Going southbound, there is an unsigned exit ramp after the Drake Avenue ramp; it also provides access to the useless overpass, and to the entrance to Joe Davis Stadium.
Bob Wallace Avenue
US 431 south / SR 53 north (Governors Drive, SR 1 south) to SR 20 west	North end of SR 53 concurrency; south end of US 431/SR 1 concurrency
Clinton Avenue - Downtown Huntsville	Former SR 20. Although the overpass spans Holmes Avenue, there are no access ramps to or from Holmes.
I-565 ( US 72 Alt. )
US 72 west (University Drive, SR 2 west)	South end of US 72/SR 2 concurrency. Going northbound, the ramp for University Drive is incorporated into the I-565 interchange.
Oakwood Avenue, Cook Avenue	Only the northbound ramp includes the Cook Avenue signage; it is not accessible from the southbound side.
US 72 east / Sparkman Drive, Max Luther Drive	North end of US 72/SR 2 concurrency. Opened April 10, 2012^[11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interstate 65</span> Interstate Highway from Alabama to Indiana

Interstate 65 (I-65) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates ending in 5, it is a major crosscountry, north–south route, connecting between the Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico. Its southern terminus is located at an interchange with I-10 in Mobile, Alabama, and its northern terminus is at an interchange with US 12 (US 12) and US 20 in Gary, Indiana, just southeast of Chicago. I-65 connects several major metropolitan areas in the Midwest and Southern US. It connects the four largest cities in Alabama: Mobile, Montgomery, Birmingham, and Huntsville. It also serves as one of the main north–south routes through Nashville, Tennessee; Louisville, Kentucky; and Indianapolis, Indiana, each a major metropolitan area in its respective state.

Route 124 is a state highway in the northern part of New Jersey in the United States that is 14.74 mi (23.72 km) long. It is the eastern section of what used to be Route 24 before that road was realigned to its current freeway alignment. The western end is at an intersection with U.S. Route 202 (US 202) and County Route 510 (CR 510) in Morristown, Morris County; the eastern end continues as CR 603 on Springfield Avenue at the border between Maplewood and Irvington in Essex County. The route runs through suburban areas of Morris County, passing through Madison and Chatham. It interchanges with Route 24 on the border of Millburn, Essex County and Summit, Union County and serves as a frontage road for that route. Upon splitting from Route 24, Route 124 continues east through Springfield Township, Union Township, and Maplewood to its eastern terminus.

A frontage road is a local road running parallel to a higher-speed, limited-access road. A frontage road is often used to provide access to private driveways, shops, houses, industries or farms. Where parallel high-speed roads are provided as part of a major highway, these are also known as local lanes. Sometimes a similar arrangement is used for city roads; for example, the collector portion of Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, Massachusetts, is known as a carriage road.

U.S. Route 72 (US 72) is an east–west United States highway that travels for 317.811 miles (511.467 km) from southwestern Tennessee, throughout North Mississippi, North Alabama, and southeastern Tennessee. The highway's western terminus is in Memphis, Tennessee and its eastern terminus is in Chattanooga. It is the only U.S. Highway to begin and end in the same state, yet pass through other states in between. Prior to the U.S. Highway system signage being posted in 1926, the entire route was part of the Lee Highway.

U.S. Route 411 (US 411) is an alternate parallel-highway associated with US 11. It extends for about 309.7 miles (498.4 km) from US 78 in Leeds, Alabama, to US 25W/US 70 in Newport, Tennessee. US 411 travels through northeastern Alabama, northwestern Georgia, and southeastern Tennessee. It is signed north-south, as with most highways that have odd numbers, but the route runs primarily in a northeast-southwest direction, and covers a more east-west mileage than it does north-south. Notable towns and cities along its route include Gadsden, Alabama; Rome, Georgia; Cartersville, Georgia; Maryville, Tennessee; Sevierville, Tennessee, and Newport, Tennessee.

U.S. Route 231 (US 231) is a north–south U.S highway that is a parallel route of US 31. It runs for 912 miles (1,468 km) from St. John, Indiana, at US 41 to south of US 98 in downtown Panama City, Florida. One of its most notable landmarks is the William H. Natcher Bridge, a 0.853 miles (1.373 km) long cable-stayed bridge that connects Rockport, Indiana, to Owensboro, Kentucky, spanning the Ohio River.

A Texas U-turn, or Texas turnaround, boomerang, or loop around, is a lane allowing cars traveling on one side of a one-way frontage road to U-turn onto the opposite frontage road. Typically controlled by yield signs, these allow U-turning traffic to bypass two traffic signals and avoid crossing the local traffic twice.

Interstate 565 (I-565) is a 22-mile-long (35 km) Interstate spur that connects I-65 in Decatur with U.S. Route 72 (US 72) in Huntsville in the US state of Alabama.

The Suitland Parkway is a limited-access parkway in Washington, D.C., and Prince George's County, Maryland, administered and maintained by the U.S. National Park Service (NPS), National Capital Parks-East. The road has partial controlled access with a combination of interchanges and at-grade intersections, but without property access for neighboring land-owners. Conceived in 1937, it was built during World War II to provide a road connection between military facilities in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area and is named after Suitland, Maryland. It fully opened on December 9, 1944 as the Camp Springs highway, so called because it connected Camp Springs in Prince George's County with Bolling Air Force Base. However one lane of the highway was opened in mid-October 1944.

State Route 134 is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of Virginia. The state highway runs 11.63 miles (18.72 km) from U.S. Route 60 and SR 143 in the independent city of Hampton north to US 17 in Tabb. SR 134 is the main connection between Hampton and southeastern York County and a major artery through Hampton, where the highway runs concurrently with US 258 and Interstate 64 (I-64).

U.S. Route 431 (US 431), internally designated by the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) as State Route 1 (SR 1), is a major north–south state highway across the eastern part of the U.S. state of Alabama. Although US 431's south end is in Dothan, SR 1 continues south for about 13 miles (21 km) along US 231 to the Florida state line.

The Huntsville–Decatur–Albertville, Alabama, combined statistical area is the most populated sub-region of North Alabama, and is the second largest combined statistical area in the State of Alabama after Birmingham. The Huntsville-Decatur-Albertville CSA had a total of 879,315 people in 2022 and ranks 68th in the country.

State Road 884, along with County Road 884, together create Lee County, Florida's primary east–west partially controlled access highway, linking Cape Coral in the western portion of the county to Lehigh Acres and Alva in the eastern portion. Currently, the highway consists of State Road 884, and two segments of County Road 884 on each end, and the entire highway is about 37.5 miles (60.4 km) long. The highway runs through the southern incorporated limits of the city of Fort Myers and through the mid part of Cape Coral, and has become a major commuter route.

Research Park Boulevard runs from I-565 to Bob Wade Lane on the north and west sides of Huntsville in Madison County, Alabama. Much of the route is a limited access highway, with the entire route planned to be limited access. Plans call for the road to be extended to create a near-complete bypass around Huntsville.

U.S. Route 231 (US 231) in Alabama runs north–south up through the eastern half of Alabama for 306.273 miles (492.899 km). US 231 enters the state from Florida south of Madrid and exits into Tennessee, running councurrently with US 431 north of Hazel Green. US 231 passes through the major cities of Dothan, Troy, Montgomery, and Huntsville.

State Route 133 (SR 133) is a 16.976-mile-long (27.320 km) mostly multi-lane state highway and is a primary artery through the Florence–Muscle Shoals metropolitan area in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Alabama.

Governors Drive is a major east–west thoroughfare in Huntsville, Alabama. It follows U.S. Route 431 (US-431) in east Huntsville and State Route 53 (SR-53) in west Huntsville. Governors Drive is one of the main entrance points to the city from the east, carrying on average approximately 48,000 vehicles a day across Monte Sano Mountain.

University Drive is a major east–west thoroughfare in Huntsville, Alabama, following US Route 72 into the city from the west. The highway carries on average approximately 56,000 vehicles a day at 45 mph (72 km/h).

Airport Road is a major east–west thoroughfare in Huntsville, Alabama that connects the Jones Valley and Hampton Cove subdivisions to Memorial Parkway and the rest of the city. On average approximately 32,000 vehicles travel the 2-mile stretch of road a day.

Bob Wallace Avenue and Sparkman Drive are major thoroughfares in Huntsville, Alabama that connect to make a horseshoe-shaped road around the city. The two roads run through several residential neighborhoods and school zones including the University of Alabama in Huntsville. On average, approximately 21,000 vehicles travel along the roads each day.

References

1 2 Overview Map of Memorial Parkway (Map). Google Maps . Retrieved January 10, 2012.
↑ "National Affairs: Rocket City, U.S.A." Time. February 17, 1958. Archived from the original on August 31, 2008. Retrieved March 16, 2010.
↑ "City of Huntsville Traffic Engineering" . Retrieved September 21, 2019.
1 2 Marshall, Mike (December 21, 2005). "Parkway: Savior or joke?". Huntsville Times.
1 2 Grant, Howard (August 7, 1964). "Redesigning of Parkway is proposed". The Huntsville Times. p. 1.
1 2 Clines, Keith (January 2, 2011). "Memorial Parkway overpasses' cost increase significantly over 41 years". The Huntsville Times. Retrieved January 10, 2012.
↑ "Businessmen Fighting Highway". The Tuscaloosa News. Associated Press. February 20, 1972. p. 5A. Retrieved March 16, 2010.
↑ "Study shows Huntsville to need highway". Gadsden Times. Associated Press. August 28, 1985. Retrieved March 16, 2010.
↑ Clines, Keith (March 27, 2011). "Road projects should outpace traffic growth in the coming decade (Outlook 2011)". The Huntsville Times . Retrieved January 10, 2012.
↑ Clines, Keith (April 8, 2012). "Reader says another turn lane needed on Memorial Parkway service road at Weatherly Road". The Huntsville Times. Retrieved April 8, 2012.
1 2 Roop, Lee (April 6, 2012). "North Memorial Parkway overpasses will be open on Tuesday". The Huntsville Times . Retrieved April 7, 2012.
↑ "South Memorial Parkway construction in its final steps". July 18, 2018.
↑ ALDOT's Construction Bulletin Archived October 19, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
↑ "Huntsville to build Sky Bridge over Parkway, connect downtown and Lowe Mill". WAFF 48 News. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
↑ "6 things to know about Huntsville's 'Skybridge'". al. June 11, 2016. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
↑ "Final Plan". www.singingrivertrail.com. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
↑ "Singing River Trail to Connect Three North Alabama Counties | DesignAlabama" . Retrieved July 22, 2020.
↑ "Singing River Trail gets positive community feedback". WAAY News. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Long Range Transportation Plan" (PDF). The City of Huntsville. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 28, 2015. Retrieved August 4, 2012.
↑ "A's Canseco reaches majors with a thump". Miami Herald. September 24, 1985. Retrieved March 16, 2010.