Alabama State Route 160
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State Route 160 (SR 160) is an
state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...
in Blount County, in the north-central part of the U.S. state of
Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...
. The western terminus of the highway is at an intersection with U.S. Route 31 (US 31) on the southern edge of Smoke Rise. This intersection is just east of US 31's interchange with Interstate 65 (I-65 exit 284). The eastern terminus of the highway is at an intersection with US 231 and Blount County Route 1 (CR 1) in
Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
. SR 160 is the only state highway that is exclusively located in Blount County.


Route description

SR 160 begins at an
intersection In mathematics, the intersection of two or more objects is another object consisting of everything that is contained in all of the objects simultaneously. For example, in Euclidean geometry, when two lines in a plane are not parallel, their i ...
with US 31 ( internally designated as SR 3) on the southern edge of Smoke Rise. This intersection is just to the east of US 31's interchange with
I-65 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 ...
. It travels to the east-northeast, along the southern edge of Smoke Rise. Almost immediately, it crosses over Sibleyville Creek. At an intersection with Thomas Road, the highway enters Smoke Rise proper. Between Pine View Drive and Tumblin Road, it leaves Smoke Rise proper and again travels along the southern edge of it. Just after crossing over Double Branch, the highway leaves Smoke Rise and travels through
rural area In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are descri ...
s of the county. It curves to the northeast and crosses over Coaldale Creek. The highway curves to a nearly due east direction and crosses over Hogeland Creek. It curves back to the northeast and passes Hayden Primary and Hayden Elementary schools. Just after crossing over Merrill Branch, it enters
Hayden Hayden may refer to: Places Inhabited places in the United States *Hayden, Alabama *Hayden, Arizona *Hayden's Ferry, former name of Tempe, Arizona *Hayden, California, former name of Hayden Hill, California *Hayden, Colorado *Hayden, Idaho *Hayden ...
. It travels under a
railroad bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
that carries
railroad tracks A railway track (British English and UIC terminology) or railroad track (American English), also known as permanent way or simply track, is the structure on a railway or railroad consisting of the rails, fasteners, railroad ties (sleepers, ...
of
CSX CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...
. It then passes the Blount County Courthouse Annex just before an intersection with the southern terminus of Blount County Route 7 (CR 7; 3rd Street). SR 160 then passes the
town hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...
of Hayden. It then crosses over Neeley Creek. A short distance later, it leaves the
city limits City limits or city boundaries refer to the defined boundary or border of a city. The area within the city limit can be called the city proper. Town limit/boundary and village limit/boundary apply to towns and villages. Similarly, corporate limi ...
of Hayden. The highway curves to a nearly due east direction and travels through Mount Olive. Upon crossing Pannel Creek, it curves to the northeast and intersects the southern terminus of Blount CR 9. It then crosses over Sugar Creek before entering Sugar Creek. There, it intersects the western terminus of Blount CR 45 and the northern terminus of Brand Road. After intersecting the northern terminus of Blount CR 13, the highway curves to the east-northeast and enters
Nectar Nectar is a sugar-rich liquid produced by plants in glands called nectaries or nectarines, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to animal mutualists ...
. It intersects the eastern terminus of Blount CR 45, which forms a loop off of SR 160. The highway crosses over Tucker Creek and curves to the southeast. In the main part of town, it curves to the east and has an intersection with the eastern terminus of Blount CR 11, the southern terminus of Blount CR 37 (Joy Road), and the northern terminus of River Bend Road. It curves back to the northeast and passes Nectar Cemetery. It crosses over Henderson Creek just before passing the Nectar Town Hall. Right after leaving the city limits of Nectar, SR 160 crosses over the
Locust Fork of the Black Warrior River The Locust Fork River, in the U.S. State of Alabama, is one of three major tributaries of the Black Warrior River, stretching across Blount, and some portions of Etowah, Jefferson and Marshall counties. Its course (1) drains a watershed of an ...
. It then curves to the east and enters
Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
. At an intersection with SR 79, SR 160 curves to the northeast. In the main part of town, it reaches its eastern terminus, an intersection with US 231 (internally designated as SR 53) and the northern terminus of Blount CR 1.


History

Prior to 1971, this highway was designated as Blount CR 8. The western terminus of SR 160 is currently approximately north of downtown
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
. Until the late 1990s, the path of SR 160 between Hayden and Cleveland traveled through a largely rural area of the county. As urban sprawl from Birmingham has begun to spread into Blount County, numerous new subdivisions have begun to develop along the highway. Much of the growth in northern Jefferson County and Blount County is in expectation of the long-anticipated construction of the Northern Beltline which has been given the designation I-422. The expected date for the completion of this route is 2020. As a result of the residential and commercial development along this highway, there are plans to widen it to four lanes. However, such plans are still under development. As of June 2009, they are still several years away from becoming reality. Due to increased traffic, and the fact that the highway is still a narrow two-lane through winding, hilly country, there has been an increase in deadly auto accidents along this roadway including an accident on November 29, 2007, which took the lives of three Hayden High School cheerleaders – senior, Courtney Nicely, and sophomores, Whitney Bradford and Sarah Casey. Two years later, on September 19, 2009, Kimberly "Kimmi" Jones Colley was hit head-on, and died two weeks later. That death spurred the formation of an organization for the purpose of holding Governor
Bob Riley Robert Renfroe Riley (born October 3, 1944) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 52nd governor of Alabama from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he previously represented Alabama's 3rd district in the U. ...
and the state accountable for a campaign promise made by Riley in April 2006 to fast-track construction work to make SR 160 safe.


Major intersections


See also

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References

{{Reflist
160 Year 160 ( CLX) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Atilius and Vibius (or, less frequently, year 913 '' Ab urbe condita''). ...
Transportation in Blount County, Alabama