State Route 20 (SR 20) is a state highway in the northern part of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...

. It travels from the

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

state line, where it continues as Tennessee State Route 69, northwest of

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

, east to Interstate 65 (I-65), east of Decatur. It crosses the

Tennessee River The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other name ...

at Florence (with US 43, US 72, SR 17, and SR 157) and also at Decatur (with US 31 and US 72 Alt.) US 72 Alt. follows SR 20 from the intersection with US 72 at

Muscle Shoals Muscle Shoals is the largest city in Colbert County, Alabama, United States. It is located along the Tennessee River in the northern part of the state and, as of the 2010 census, the population of Muscle Shoals was 13,146. The estimated popu ...

to I-65 east of Decatur, the entire stretch being four-laned.

Route description

SR 20 begins in Waterloo at the

state line. It junctions with the Natchez Trace Parkway and enters

. In Florence, the route junctions with SR 133. It continues south to parallel the

, heading east for just a mile as Coffee Road before junctioning with

US 72 U.S. Route 72 (US 72) is an east–west United States highway that travels for from southwestern Tennessee, throughout North Mississippi, North Alabama, and southeastern Tennessee. The highway's western terminus is in Memphis, Tennessee an ...

and

US 43 U.S. Route 43 (US 43) is a north–south United States Highway in the Southern states of Alabama and Tennessee. It travels from Prichard, Alabama, to Columbia, Tennessee. The highway's southern terminus is in Prichard, at an intersect ...

at a

Parclo A partial cloverleaf interchange or parclo is a modification of a cloverleaf interchange. The design has been well received, and has since become one of the most popular freeway-to-arterial interchange designs in North America. It has also bee ...

. It crosses the Tennessee River with the two routes, SR 17, and SR 13. This is a quintuple concurrency. The routes enter

Colbert County Colbert County () is a county located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 census the county's population was 57,227. The county seat is Tuscumbia. The largest city is Muscle Shoals. The county is named i ...

and Tuscumbia. The routes junction with SR 184. They pass by a few restaurants and a Planet Pepsi building near this junction. The routes reach

. Here, US 43/SR 17/SR 13 and US 72 turn to the south and west respectively, while SR 20 turns east with U.S. 72 Alt. The two routes junction with SR 133 again and SR 157. This is the southern terminus of SR 133 and the continuation of SR 157. The two routes split off at Leighton. SR 157 continues south to

Moulton Moulton may refer to: Places in the United Kingdom ;In England *Moulton, Cheshire * Moulton, Lincolnshire **Moulton Windmill * Moulton St Mary, Norfolk * Moulton, Northamptonshire ** Moulton College, agricultural college ** Moulton Park, indus ...

and Cullman along the

right-of-way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...

. US 72 Alt. and SR 20 turn to the direct east/west and eventually enter Lawrence County. The routes enter Town Creek and junction with AL-101. The routes continue to Courtland and then junction with SR 33. This stretch of road is mostly flat. The routes continue east to the Morgan County line and enter

Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God th ...

. The stretch between here and SR 67 is well-known for containing multiple industrial plants, such as 3M and

Nucor Nucor Corporation is an American producer of steel and related products based in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is the largest steel producer in the United States, the largest "mini-mill" steelmaker (i.e. it uses electric arc furnaces to melt s ...

. The routes junction with SR 67 and gain the Corridor V name. The routes pass through Decatur, junctioning with

US 31 U.S. Route 31 or U.S. Highway 31 (US 31) is a major north–south U.S. highway connecting southern Alabama to northern Michigan. Its southern terminus is at an intersection with US 90/ US 98 in Spanish Fort, Alabama. It ...

. This junction is limited because there is no direct connection between US 31 north and SR 20 west. Traffic making that connection must use a short side road onto a short one-way street, which leads to SR 20. The routes continue north across the Tennessee River again and enter Limestone County. The routes lose US 31 at a Directional-T

Interchange (road) In the field of road transport, an interchange (American English) or a grade-separated junction (British English) is a road junction that uses grade separations to allow for the movement of traffic between two or more roadways or highways, usin ...

and continue east to

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 ...

. I-565 begins at this point. US 72 Alt. continues along I-565 to

Huntsville Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in th ...

, and this is the end of SR 20. Old SR 20, (also known as old highway 20) starts at the I-65 and I-565 interchange, it follows the same route as I-565 until the exit at Mooresville, and at exit 7 also follows the same route as Madison Boulevard, and is the original road section that once served by SR 20, it ends after 5.8 miles (9.4 kilometers) at exit 13 at the 3 way intersection with

Governors A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

west.

History

SR 20 was started when Alabama renumbered SR 41 with a statewide renumbering in 1929. The original route passed from US 72 at Muscle Shoals to US 31 at Decatur. This portion was named the Joe Wheeler Highway, and markers commemorating this are still located on East (Decatur at Railroad/Church Streets) and West (Tuscumbia-Old Lee Highway) ends. In 1931, SR 20 replaced SR 2 following US 72 west to the

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

state line west of Margerum, and in 1936 it was extended east to

. 1957 saw many changes to SR 20. It was replaced again by SR 2 along US 72 to the Mississippi state line, and, in turn, SR 20 replaced SR 2 traveling north to Florence and northwest of Florence to the Tennessee state line, forming a route popularly known as New Savannah Highway. SR 20 was also realigned to a much more direct route between Decatur and Huntsville, bypassing the town of

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

. Beginning in the early 1980s, the eastern terminus of SR 20 began retreating to the west. The original terminus was at Clinton Avenue and US 231/ US 431 in downtown Huntsville. With the construction of I-565 in the early 1990s along the route of SR 20 east of

, SR 20 was slowly pulled back to its current terminus at the junction of I-65 and becomes I-565.

Major intersections

Historic routes

Several sections of Old Highway 20 still exist: * Lauderdale County Road 200 through Sullivans Crossroads, Central Heights, Lovelace and McGee Town, known as Old Savannah Highway. * Lauderdale County Road 14 from McGee Town to

Road 22 through Leighton. * Jefferson Street through Courtland * Old Trinity Road between

and Decatur * Old Highway 20 through Mooresville – The section east of Mooresville is part of the 1957 alignment. * 1936 Alignment ** Mooresville Road north of Mooresville through Belle Mina to Old Highway 20. ** Old Highway 20 east through Greenbrier to County Line Road. ** County Line Road north to Palmer Road. ** Palmer Road east to Downtown

. ** Old Madison Pike from Madison to I-565 exit 15. * 1957 Alignment ** Madison Boulevard from I-565 exit 5 to I-565 exit 13. * Governors Drive in

from I-565 exit 17 to Clinton Avenue. * Clinton Avenue in Huntsville to US 231/US 431, Memorial Parkway.

Corridor V

Corridor V is part of the Appalachian Development Highway System and follows the path of SR 20 between Decatur and the eastern Terminus at I-65.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alabama State Route 20

020 020 is the national dialling code for London in the United Kingdom. All subscriber numbers within the area code consist of eight digits and it has capacity for approaching 100 million telephone numbers. The code is used at 170 telephone exch ...

Decatur metropolitan area, Alabama Huntsville-Decatur, AL Combined Statistical Area Florence–Muscle Shoals metropolitan area Transportation in Lauderdale County, Alabama Transportation in Colbert County, Alabama Transportation in Lawrence County, Alabama Transportation in Morgan County, Alabama Transportation in Limestone County, Alabama