Interstate 459 (I-459) is a bypass highway of

I-59 Interstate 59 (I-59) is an Interstate Highway located in the southeastern United States. It is a north–south route that spans from a junction with I-10 and I-12 at Slidell, Louisiana, to a junction with I-24 near Wildwood, Georgia. ...

that is an alternate

Interstate Highway The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. Th ...

around the southern sides of

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 ...

, Bessemer, and several other cities and towns in

Jefferson County, Alabama Jefferson County is the List of counties in Alabama, most populous county in the U.S. state of Alabama, located in the central portion of the state. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 674,721. Its county seat i ...

. I-459 lies entirely within Jefferson County. This Interstate Highway is about long, and its construction was completed in 1984. I-459 has major interchanges with I-59,

I-20 Interstate 20 (I‑20) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the Southern United States. I-20 runs beginning at an interchange with I-10 in Scroggins Draw, Texas, and ending at an interchange with I-95 in Florence, South Carolina. Between ...

, and

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 ...

Route description

I-459 begins at a trumpet interchange with I-20/I-59 near Bessemer and McCalla. Exit 1, an interchange with Eastern Valley Road, provides access to the large Colonial Promenade shopping center and McCalla community. The freeway then passes under Pocahontas Road and next to the Bent Brook Golf Club before intersecting with Morgan Road at exit 6. Morgan Road connects with Bessemer, Helena, and the western fringes of Hoover along with the

Bessemer Airport Bessemer Airport is a city-owned public-use airport located three nautical miles (6 km) southeast of the central business district of Bessemer, a city in Jefferson County, Alabama, United States. According to the FAA's National Plan of Integrat ...

. After Morgan Road, I-459 enters a much more populated and developed area, namely the large suburb of Hoover. Once interchanging with State Route 150 (SR 150) at exit 10, the highway turns northeastward and widens to 10 lanes. Exit 13 is with US 31, a major suburban route through Hoover,

Vestavia Hills Vestavia Hills, colloquially known simply as Vestavia, is a city in Jefferson and Shelby counties in the U.S. state of Alabama. It is a suburb of Birmingham and it is made up of Vestavia, Liberty Park, and Cahaba Heights. As of the 2020 census ...

, and Pelham. A southbound flyover ramp at this interchange provides direct access to the

Riverchase Galleria Riverchase Galleria, locally known as The Galleria, is a large, super–regional shopping mall and mixed use development in Hoover, Alabama, in the Greater Birmingham metropolitan area. It is ranked 43rd on the list of largest shopping malls in t ...

. The freeway then approaches its interchange with I-65, one of two four-level stack interchanges in the state (the other being its interchange with I-20). After the I-65 interchange, the roadway decreases to six lanes and has a minor interchange with Acton Road at exit 17. As it exits Hoover, I-459 intersects with US 280, an 8- to 10-lane suburban

arterial An artery (plural arteries) () is a blood vessel in humans and most animals that takes blood away from the heart to one or more parts of the body (tissues, lungs, brain etc.). Most arteries carry oxygenated blood; the two exceptions are the pul ...

that is one of the most congested roads in Greater Birmingham. The area around this interchange contains many hotels and office buildings. After the US 280 interchange, it turns north and enters a residential area along the

Cahaba River The Cahaba River is the longest substantially free-flowing river in Alabama and is among the most scenic and biologically diverse rivers in the United States. It is a major tributary of the Alabama River and part of the larger Mobile River basin. ...

, crossing the river twice before passing the "Miss Liberty" (

Statue of Liberty The Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''; French: ''La Liberté éclairant le monde'') is a List of colossal sculpture in situ, colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York City, in the U ...

replica) and the exit 23 interchange with Liberty Parkway and Overton Road. The highway passes east of Mountain Brook while turning northeast and interchanging with Grants Mill Road at exit 27. After this intersection, I-459 turns northward again as it approaches the suburb of

Trussville Trussville is a city in Jefferson and St. Clair counties in the State of Alabama. It is a suburb of Birmingham and part of the Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its population at the 2020 census was 26,123. Geography Trussvi ...

. The interchange with I-20 is one of two

stack interchange A directional interchange, colloquially known as a stack interchange, is a type of grade-separated junction between two controlled-access highways that allows for free-flowing movement to and from all directions of traffic. These interchanges e ...

s in Greater Birmingham. In its last few miles, the highway intersects with Derby Parkway and US 11 in Trussville before completing its course with an interchange at I-59.

Future

An additional interchange for I-459

Negotiations between the

Alabama Department of Transportation The Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) is the government agency responsible for transportation infrastructure in Alabama. The Department is organized into five geographic regions, with a Central Office located in Montgomery, AL Montg ...

(ALDOT) and the city of Hoover are continuing regarding the prospective building of an additional interchange for I-459 at South Shades Crest Road, a heavily traveled traffic artery. An exit here would relieve some of the traffic congestion on SR 150. No firm plans have been announced for construction of this interchange.

Northern bypass

There are plans to construct another Interstate Highway bypass running north of the Birmingham area to provide another Interstate Highway that would have major interchanges with I-59 (two), I-20 (one), I-65 (one), and the newly constructed

I-22 I22 or I 22 may refer to: * Interstate 22 Interstate 22 (I-22) is a Interstate Highway in the US states of Mississippi and Alabama, connecting I-269 near Byhalia, Mississippi, to I-65 near Birmingham, Alabama. I-22 is also Corridor X of ...

, with all of these interchanges being either north or west of Birmingham. This new bypass route has been tentatively numbered as

Interstate 422 Interstate 422 (I-422), Corridor X-1, or the Birmingham Northern Beltline is a proposed northern bypass route around Birmingham, Alabama, through northern and western Jefferson County that is projected to be completed by 2047. Along with ...

. When this northern bypass of the urban area is built, it would give Birmingham and Jefferson County a completely ringed Interstate bypass.

Exit list

References