State Route 79 (SR 79) is a

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 ...

that extends northeastward from

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 ...

to 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. Prior to the completion of Interstate 65 (I-65), SR 79 was the southern part of the route that connected Birmingham and

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 ...

. The southern terminus of SR 79 is at an interchange of Tallapoosa Street with

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 ...

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. ...

(exit 128) near

Birmingham–Shuttlesworth International Airport Birmingham–Shuttlesworth International Airport , formerly Birmingham Municipal Airport and later Birmingham International Airport, is a civil-military airport serving Birmingham, Alabama. The airport also provides scheduled airline service fo ...

. Prior to the completion of I-20/I-59, the terminus of SR 79 was 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, US 78, and US 280 at the intersection of 8th Avenue North and 24th Street in downtown Birmingham.

Route description

SR 79 begins at a modified-diamond- interchange with

/ 59 in east

, near Birmingham Int'l Airport. The route turns northeast on a four-lane divided highway and continues in this direction until it reaches Pinson. It junctions with SR 151, which leads to SR 75. The route loses its four-lane divided highway status and becomes a two-lane road, crossing into Blount County. In southern Blount County, there are no major junctions until it reaches

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. ...

. It junctions with SR 160 and continues north for just about a mile, reaching

US 231 U.S. Route 231 (US 231) is a north-south U.S highway that is a parallel route of US 31. It runs for from St. John, Indiana, at US 41 to south of US 98 in downtown Panama City, Florida. One of its most notable landmarks is ...

. It continues on its

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 ...

until it crosses the Locust Fork and leaves US 231 in Blountsville. It junctions with

US 278 U.S. Route 278 (US 278) is a parallel route of U.S. Route 78, US 78. It currently runs for from Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, to Wickes, Arkansas at U.S. Route 71, US 71/U.S. Route 59, US 59, passing through five states in the ...

a few miles later. It eventually enters Marshall County. It eventually reaches

Guntersville Guntersville (previously known as Gunter's Ferry and later Gunter's Landing) is a city and the county seat of Marshall County, Alabama, Marshall County, Alabama, United States. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the ...

. It junctions with

US 431 U.S. Route 431 (US 431) is a spur of U.S. Route 31. It currently travels for approximately from US 231/Alabama State Route 210 and US 231 Business (US 231 Bus.) and US 431 Bus. in Dothan, Alabama, to Owensboro, ...

. It maintains a concurrency with it, junctioning with SR 69 and SR 227 before splitting off from US 431 and heading north to the Jackson County line. In Jackson County, there are no major junctions until it turns off of its right-of-way, with its right-of-way becoming SR 279, in Scottsboro. It junctions 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 and ...

and SR 35 before leaving the city. In

Skyline A skyline is the outline or shape viewed near the horizon. It can be created by a city’s overall structure, or by human intervention in a rural setting, or in nature that is formed where the sky meets buildings or the land. City skylines ...

, the route junctions with SR 146. It continues north until it crosses the

state line, where it continues as

Tennessee State Route 16 State Route 16 (SR 16) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Tennessee. Its southern terminus is at the Alabama state line, where it continues as State Route 79 (SR 79) in Alabama. From there, it continues to Winchester, where it becomes unsign ...

(SR 16) towards Winchester, TN.

Future

Due to population growth in the area, there are long range plans to widen SR 79 to four lanes into southwestern Blount County.

Major intersections

References

{{Reflist

079 79 may refer to: * 79 (number) * one of the years 79 BC, AD 79, 1979, 2079 * ''79 A.D.'', a 1962 historical epic film * Eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79, a catastrophic volcanic eruption in Italy See also

* * List of highways numbered {{Num ...

Transportation in Jefferson County, Alabama Transportation in Blount County, Alabama Transportation in Marshall County, Alabama Transportation in Jackson County, Alabama Transportation in Birmingham, Alabama