Interstate 85 will gain a new interchange to serve the city of Auburn. This new junction will accomodate the Technology Parks and western reaches of the growing city. The position of the new exit will be between the existing Wire Road and South College Street exits. Construction on the federally funded project will begin between October 2003 and October 2004 and endure for about two years.1
Interstate 85 Southbound
U.S. 280/431 - Exit 62 button copy guide signage on Interstate 85 southbound. The immediate vicinity of this interchange is dotted with hotels and restaurants, contrast with a dead shopping center just to the north along U.S. 431. During college football season, the hotels at this interchange raise their rates by $30 for Auburn University football games. It's a story of supply and demand, a tale as old as America and Adam Smith. Photo taken 08/05/00.
Interstate 85 southbound at Exit 9 for Alabama 217/Taylor Road. Interstate 85 was expanded to six lanes through this stretch during the late 1990s. A recent resurfacing project of 2001 was complete at the time of this photograph. Photo taken 12/29/01.
This sign on Interstate 85 southbound states that the 1976 State Legislature designated Interstate 85 in Montgomery as the Dr. Martin Luther King Junior Expressway, in honor of the civil rights activist. A similar sign is posted on Interstate 85 northbound, just after the beginning. The signage in the background indicates that Montgomery Regional Airport traffic should follow Interstate 85 to Interstate 65 south. In other words, do not use East and South Boulevards. Photo taken 12/29/01.
Interstate 85 southbound at the East Boulevard interchange of Exit 6. Speed limits are 65 mph for Interstate 85 from this interchange eastward. Faulkner University, the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, and the Maxwell AFB - Gunter Annex are accessible from this junction ramp. Robert Hatch wrote on May 27, 2003, that construction is underway to construct an interstate-grade facility around Montgomery, and the initial phase of this bypass would take ten years to complete. The first phase of the bypass is to construct the segment from Interstate 65 south of the city to an intersecting point on Interstate 85 near Exit 6. The latest official Alabama state map shows this construction on the city inset of the Montgomery area. This new bypass will not overlay existing West/South/East/North Boulevard, but it will be located further from downtown than the boulevard. Photo taken 12/29/01.
One-half mile guide sign for Exit 4/Perry Hall Road on
Interstate 85 southbound. Perry Hall Road is a north-south surface arterial between Vaughn Road and old U.S.
80, the Atlanta Highway. Photo taken 08/22/03.
A partial cloverleaf interchange exists between Interstate 85 and Perry Hall Road. This photograph shows the Exit 4 gore point sign and ramp departure. Photo taken 08/22/03.
Four lanes of Interstate 85 near central Montgomery near Exit 3/Ann Street. Interstate 85 between Exit 2 and Exit 7 saw reconstruction during the late 1990s, thus resulting in new highway lighting, widening, and fresh asphalt pavement. Photo taken 08/22/03.
Interstate 85 southbound at Exit 3/Ann Street with advance guide signage for Exit 2/Mulberry Street. The freeway descends below street level for the final three miles, giving this highway an urban feel one encounters in the northeast. Photo taken 08/22/03.
Interstate 85 southbound at Exit 2 for Mulberry Street. This is one of two central business district interchanges for the city of Montgomery. Photo taken 08/22/03.
Traffic from Exit 2 merges onto Interstate 85 southbound, adding a fifth auxiliary lane for the upcoming Exit 1. At the Union Street interchange, Interstate 85 reduces from eight to six lanes. Photo taken 08/22/03.
Interstate 85 is orientated in a east-west fashion through the city limits of Montgomery, so this southbound scene looks westward. The sign bridge sees the first guide signage for Interstate 65/Exit 0 and the three-quarter mile sign for Exit 1/Union Street. Note the reduced speed sign in the background, as the speed limit reduces from 55 to 50 as Interstate 85 draws near its southern terminus. Photo taken 08/22/03.
Southbound Interstate 85 at Exit 1 for Union Street. This downtown exit also serves Perry Street, Alabama State University, and the Alabama state capital complex. Photo taken 08/22/03.
Interstate 85 southbound widens to four lanes in anticipation of the three-level stack interchange with Interstate 65. Otherwise, Interstate 85 is six lanes between the southern terminus and Exit 10. The Day Street connector facilitates traffic between Interstates 65/85 and
Maxwell AFB. Photo taken 08/22/03.
This diagrammatical overhead guides motorists along the
four southbound lanes of Interstate 85 to the associated directions of Exit 0. A majority of the traffic will
utilize the southbound Interstate 65 ramp toward the city of Mobile. Interstate 65 in conjunction with
Interstate 85 compose a major corridor between Houston, Texas and New Orleans, Louisiana with Atlanta, Georgia
and Charlotte, North Carolina. Photo taken 08/22/03.
A look at the slotted overhead depicted above several years
prior. A few subtle differences can be noted. For one, the shields for Interstate 65 are replaced in the above
photograph. Secondly most of the lighting fixtures that no longer function are removed in the above photograph
as well. The city of Mobile is 164 miles to the south, although Interstate 65 mileage reflects the distance
to downtown via Interstate 165. Photo taken 01/96.
End Interstate 85 shield just before the split of traffic
between Interstate 65 and Day Street/Exit 0. The ramp to Interstate 65 southbound is sharp, and sees speed
advisory signs (similar to those posted before the George C. Wallace Tunnel west portal on Interstate 10 in
Mobile) with detection devices that flash when traffic flows faster then 45 mph. Traffic continuing straight
connects to Day Street in west Montgomery. Photos taken 08/22/03.
Interstate 85 southbound draws to a close at the Interstate 65
ramp partitioning. Interstate 65 northbound skims the western reaches of the Montgomery central business district
en route to Birmingham, 87 miles to the north. Photo taken 08/22/03.
Utilizing the Exit 0C ramp for Interstate 65 northbound
reveals this sign bridge. The close proximity of Interstate 65 Exit 172 for Herron Street departs almost
immediately after the Interstate 85 stack interchange. Photo taken 08/22/03.
Two other options for Interstate 85 southbound motorists
are the Day Street Connector (Exit 0B) and Interstate 65 southbound (Exit 0A). The ramp for Interstate 65
southbound is somewhat sharp and thus requires a slower speed limit. Straight ahead is the Day Street
connector, a direct ramp with the nearby surface street. Photo taken 08/22/03.
Scenes Related to Interstate 85
Court Street southbound at the Interstate 85 southbound
frontage road. Interstate 85 is suppressed below the overpass ahead. Photo taken 08/22/03.
The final on-ramp to Interstate 85 southbound. Traffic that
turns west from Court Street (depicted in the above photograph) enters the final mile of the freeway here.
Photo taken 08/22/03.
A closer look at the Interstate 65 and 85 Alabama shield
assembly at the Court and Union Streets southbound on-ramp. Photo taken 08/22/03.
Sources:
1 - "Auburn plans new interchange off Interstate 85," Mobile Register. May 4, 2003.
