Memorial Parkway, also known as the Parkway, is a major thoroughfare in

Huntsville Huntsville is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Alabama. The population of the city is estimated to be 241,114 in 2024, making it the 100th-most populous city in the U.S. The Huntsville metropolitan area had an estimated 525,465 ...

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

that carries over 100,000 vehicles on average a day. It, in whole or in part, follows

U.S. Route 231 U.S. Route 231 (US 231) is a north–south United States Numbered Highway System, U.S highway that is a parallel route of U.S. Route 31, US 31. It runs for from St. John, Indiana, St. John, Indiana, at U.S. Route 41 in Indiana, US&nbs ...

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

U.S. Route 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 a ...

, and State Route 53 through the Huntsville city limits. It is a limited access road through most of Huntsville city proper, providing exits to the

frontage road A frontage road (also known as an access road, outer road, service road, feeder road, or parallel road) is a local road running parallel to a higher-speed, limited-access road. Where parallel high-speed roads are provided as part of a maj ...

which allows access to road intersections, as well as businesses and residences along the route. Both the limited access and frontage roads are referred to as Memorial Parkway. Originally constructed to bypass downtown Huntsville 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.

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 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 crossing over or under a freeway or expressway). Typica ...

configuration a pair of turn lanes that permit traffic on the frontage roads to make

U-turn A U-turn in driving refers to performing a 180° rotation to reverse the direction of travel. It is called a "U-turn" because the maneuver looks like the U, letter U. In some areas, the maneuver is illegal, while in others, it is treated as ...

s 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 Interstate 565 (I-565) is a Interstate spur that connects I-65 in Decatur with U.S. Route 72 (US 72) in Huntsville in the US state of Alabama. I-565 serves the cities of Decatur, Madison, and downtown Huntsville. It also p ...

. 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 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 landmark ...

/ 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

as well as allow quicker access to businesses alongside the Parkway. 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

; this interchange is sometimes referred to as Malfunction Junction. The Parkway has an overpass at US 72 West/

University Drive 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 . Route Description From the west, US 72 ente ...

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. Memorial Parkway continues north passing by

Alabama A&M University Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University (Alabama A&M or AAMU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Normal, Huntsville, Alabama. Founded in 1875, it took its present name in 1969. It was one of about 180 " normal s ...

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 The United States Army Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM) is a research and development and product management command of the United States Army. It develops, acquires, fields and sustains aviation, missile and unmanned aerial vehicles. AMCOM ...

Redstone Arsenal Redstone Arsenal is a United States Army base adjacent to Huntsville, Alabama in the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge. A census-designated place in Madison County, Alabama, United States, it is part of the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistica ...

, and the

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

Marshall Space Flight Center Marshall Space Flight Center (officially the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center; MSFC), located in Redstone Arsenal, Alabama (Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville postal address), is the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government's ...

in the 1960s, Huntsville underwent massive population growth, and, as a result, traffic increased. 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

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; and an overpass over

Sparkman Drive 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 Universit ...

, Max Luther Drive, and US 72 East opened on April 10, 2012. 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. 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.

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'' from 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, Alabama, ...

(ALDOT)'s Bureau of Transportation Planning. The City of Huntsville is planning the 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. This bridge will be a part of the larger Singing River Trail of North Alabama.

North side

* Walker Lane * Patterson Lane * Meridianville Bottom Road * Winchester Road * Mastin Lake Road

South side

* Mountain Gap Road/Hobbs Road * Green Cove Road * Hobbs Island Road

In popular culture

* Professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player

Jose Canseco José Canseco Capas Jr. (born July 2, 1964) is a Cuban-American former professional baseball outfielder and designated hitter who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). During his time with the Oakland Athletics, he established hims ...

earned the nickname "Parkway Jose" while playing with the

Huntsville Stars The Huntsville Stars were a Minor League Baseball team that played in Huntsville, Alabama, from 1985 to 2014. They competed in the Southern League as the Double-A affiliate of Major League Baseball's Oakland Athletics from 1985 to 1998 and Milw ...

for his ability to hit

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s over the outfield fence at Joe Davis Stadium.

Intersections

Exit list

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite magazine , magazine=Time , title=National Affairs: Rocket City, U.S.A. , url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,862900,00.html , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080831094820/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,862900,00.html , url-status=dead , archive-date=August 31, 2008 , date=February 17, 1958 , accessdate=March 16, 2010 {{cite news , work=The Tuscaloosa News , agency=Associated Press , title=Businessmen Fighting Highway , page=5A , url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=nAMdAAAAIBAJ&sjid=QJwEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5447,3368573&dq=memorial-parkway+huntsville&hl=en , date=February 20, 1972 , accessdate=March 16, 2010 {{cite news , work=Miami Herald , title=A's Canseco reaches majors with a thump , url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=MH&s_site=miami&p_multi=MH&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB363989CFC1DE5&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM , date=September 24, 1985 , accessdate=March 16, 2010 {{cite news , work=Gadsden Times , title=Study shows Huntsville to need highway , agency=Associated Press , url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=yLIfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=c9cEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5919,5345067&dq=memorial-parkway+huntsville&hl=en , date=August 28, 1985 , accessdate=March 16, 2010 {{cite news, last=Clines, first=Keith, title=Reader says another turn lane needed on Memorial Parkway service road at Weatherly Road, url=http://blog.al.com/breaking/2012/04/reader_says_another_turn_lane.html, accessdate=April 8, 2012, newspaper=The Huntsville Times, date=April 8, 2012 {{cite news , first=Mike , last=Marshall , title=Parkway: Savior or joke? , work=Huntsville Times , date=December 21, 2005 {{cite news , first=Howard , last=Grant , work=The Huntsville Times , title=Redesigning of Parkway is proposed , page=1 , date=August 7, 1964 {{cite news, last=Clines, first=Keith, title=Memorial Parkway overpasses' cost increase significantly over 41 years, url=http://blog.al.com/breaking/2011/01/post_512.html, accessdate=January 10, 2012, newspaper=The Huntsville Times, date=January 2, 2011 {{cite news , last=Clines , first=Keith , title=Road projects should outpace traffic growth in the coming decade (Outlook 2011) , url=http://blog.al.com/breaking/2011/03/outlook_2011_road_projects_sho.html , accessdate=January 10, 2012 , newspaper=

The Huntsville Times ''The Huntsville Times'' was a thrice-weekly newspaper published in Huntsville, Alabama. It also served the surrounding areas of north Alabama's Tennessee Valley region. The ''Times'' formerly operated as an afternoon paper, but moved to mornin ...

, date=March 27, 2011 {{cite map, publisher=

Google Maps Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panorama, interactive panoramic views of streets (Google Street View, Street View ...

, url=https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=34.82930,+-86.57151&daddr=34.57508,+-86.56877&hl=en&sll=34.572362,-86.566558&sspn=0.010336,0.01929&geocode=FfRzEwIdCgbX-g%3BFeiSDwIdvhDX-g&vpsrc=0&mra=ls&t=m&z=11, title=Overview Map of Memorial Parkway, accessdate=January 10, 2012 ALDOT's ''Construction Bulletin''
{{webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111019060619/http://aldotapps.dot.state.al.us/ConstructionBulletin/ , date=October 19, 2011 {{cite news , first=Lee , last=Roop , work=

, title=North Memorial Parkway overpasses will be open on Tuesday , url=http://blog.al.com/breaking/2012/04/north_memorial_parkway_overpas.html , date=April 6, 2012 , accessdate=April 7, 2012 {{Cite web , url=https://maps.huntsvilleal.gov/trafficcounts/?id=186 , title=City of Huntsville Traffic Engineering , access-date=September 21, 2019