In Alabama, Interstate 20 (I-20) travels 214.7 miles (345.5 km) through the center of the state.[1] It enters the state from Mississippi near Cuba, and travels northeastward through Tuscaloosa and Birmingham. At Birmingham, I-20 turns eastward and heads through Oxford before crossing the Georgia state line near Lebanon. Other cities on the route include Livingston, Bessemer, and Pell City.
For approximately 130 miles (210 km), more than half its distance within the state, I-20 is concurrent with I-59 from the Mississippi state line to eastern Birmingham near Birmingham–Shuttlesworth International Airport. Mileage and exits on the concurrency are I-59's, although both highways have the same mileage for the Alabama concurrency.
Route description
Western Alabama
After I-20/I-59 enters Alabama from Mississippi, they travel concurrently northeastward across the Tombigbee River and Black Warrior River delta country which is generally low-lying farmland until reaching Tuscaloosa. This area contains low population. U.S. Route 11 (US 11) parallels this route from Mississippi northeastward while it passes through small towns like York, Livingston, and Eutaw before reaching Tuscaloosa. From the Mississippi–Alabama state line to Tuscaloosa, I-20/I-59 is a four-lane route.
At Tuscaloosa, the highway connects with I-359 which travels northward into downtown Tuscaloosa and to the University of Alabama. After the I-359 junction, the route widens to become six lanes. From Tuscaloosa to Birmingham, the highway continues on an east-northeast heading traveling through rolling forested terrain until reaching I-459 southwest of Bessemer. All of the stretch from Tuscaloosa to the I-459 junction near Bessemer is six lanes. This stretch also hosts the Mercedes auto plant which is a large employer of residents primarily from Jefferson, Tuscaloosa, and Bibb counties. I-459 travels east and then northeast around the southern periphery of the Birmingham area before reconnecting first with I-20 near Irondale and then terminating at I-59 near Trussville. I-422 (Birmingham Northern Beltline) is slated to connect to I-20/I-59 at the I-459 interchange; however, this project is still years away from completion.
I-20/I-59 approaching Birmingham in EnsleyI-20/I-59 approaching I-65 in downtown Birmingham before the section of highway was rebuilt in 2019. This was sometimes referred to locally as Malfunction Junction.
Birmingham
After passing the I-459 interchange, the highway continues northeast as a four-lane highway through the Birmingham suburbs of Bessemer, Hueytown, and Fairfield before widening after exit 118 in Fairfield to at least six lanes as the interstate approaches Birmingham near the Ensley community. Most of this stretch is through urban areas including passing near the U.S. Steel plant near Fairfield, and visible from the Interstate looking north and northwest are several smokestacks which is all that remain of several large steel mills that used to dominate the Ensley community of Birmingham.
As I-20/I-59 travels eastward just past the Arkadelphia Road exit in the East Thomas community, the highway rises to the top of East Thomas hill, giving eastbound travelers an excellent view of the downtown Birmingham skyline just before reaching the interchange with I-65 (commonly called "Malfunction Junction").
As I-20/I-59 leaves the downtown area, the highway has an interchange with the Elton B. Stephens Expressway, also known locally as the Red Mountain Expressway, which travels south across the downtown area and into the southern Birmingham suburbs.
Once I-20 turns away from I-59, it begins an eastbound journey toward Georgia. The first two miles (3.2 km) are a four-lane bridge of east Birmingham neighborhoods before reaching the shopping areas formerly known as Eastwood Mall and Century Plaza.
I-20 is a six-lane freeway from exit 132 to exit 162. This highway travels through rolling suburban country and crosses I-459 near Irondale.
"Bloody 20"
The section of I-20 between Leeds and Pell City was one of the most dangerous stretches of Interstate Highway in Alabama. The terrain is significantly hilly as the route passes across the extreme southern end of the Appalachian Mountains. There are two significant uphill grades in each direction which slows down truck traffic. However, due to the heavy volumes of truck traffic, combined with speeding car traffic, accidents were frequent and sometimes deadly. This part of I-20 was sometimes called "Bloody 20". Between 2010 and 2014, work was completed to add one additional lane in each direction along I-20.
Eastern Alabama
The highway continues as a six-lane highway until reaching the Coosa River bridge near Riverside. This bridge was scheduled to be replaced when the stretch between the Coosa River and milemarker 172 is widened to six lanes from four lanes. However, no timetable for this project has been announced. Exits 165 and 168 serve the Honda Motor Company which has a plant at Lincoln. Exits 168 and 173 serve the Talladega Superspeedway which hosts two NASCAR racing weeks each year. The terrain east of milemarker 155 until reaching milemarker 191 is the relatively flat Coosa River valley.
SR 202 at I-20 at exit 179
East of milemarker 172 until milemarker 188, the route is once again six lanes. From exit 188 to exit 205, I-20 narrows again to four lanes. East of exit 205, I-20 becomes a six-lane route until it reaches exit 210. However, in this area, construction is ongoing to widen the last five miles (8.0 km) to six lanes to the Georgia state line. I-20 dives into Oxford from the west into its interchange with Alabama State Route 21 (SR 21). Here, you can see Quintard Mall and some of the highest mountains in Alabama, including Cheaha Mountain. The Anniston–Oxford metropolitan area is served by exits 179, 185, 188, and 191.
Just east of exit 191 is a significant uphill/downhill grade (uphill eastbound/downhill westbound) approximately two miles (3.2 km) long. Truck traffic is significantly slowed by this hill, causing occasional traffic backups. East of this incline, the route travels through generally rural forested rolling country until the Georgia state line, continuing roughly 50 miles (80 km) to Atlanta.
East of Birmingham, US 78 serves as the parallel U.S. Route.
History
The completion of I-20 in Alabama was done in numerous stages. Few segments were completed in such a way that they had interchanges with existing segments. The first section to be opened was a 21-mile-long (34 km) segment between Leeds and Riverside in the early 1960s. The next section to open was a 28-mile-long (45 km) segment between the Tuscaloosa and the Tuscaloosa–Jefferson county line in the mid-1960s.
The next section of I-20 to open in Alabama was a four-mile-long (6.4 km) stretch between Avenue I in Ensley and Arkadelphia Road (US 78/SR 5) near Birmingham–Southern College. This was the first segment of Interstate Highway to open in Birmingham. This segment, as well as a one-mile-long (1.6 km) segment from the Mississippi state line to what is now exit 1, leading to Cuba opened in the late 1960s.
The early 1970s saw more sections of I-20 completed in Alabama, including a 50-mile-long (80 km) segment between Epes and Tuscaloosa, a three-mile-long (4.8 km) segment between Fairfield and Ensley, a two-mile-long (3.2 km) segment between US 78 and I-65, a six-mile-long (9.7 km) segment between US 78 in Riverside and SR 77 in Lincoln, then an additional 13 miles (21 km) leading to SR 21 at Oxford.
During the mid-1970s, I-20 was extended further east in Birmingham. The first segment to open east of I-65 was a short segment leading to 17th Street in downtown, then another segment that extended the route to 22nd Street near the Birmingham–Jefferson Civic Center. The opening of additional segments continuing eastward led to temporary ends of I-20 at SR 79 (Tallapoosa Street) near Birmingham–Shuttlesworth International Airport, then at US 78 in Irondale. Also, the segment of the highway between Bessemer and Fairfield was completed. In the eastern part of the state, I-20 was extended east from Oxford to SR 9 near Heflin.
During the late 1970s, I-20 was completed in east Alabama; however, only six miles (9.7 km) of the highway was opened since it was not complete in Georgia. The segment between the Georgia state line and Douglasville was among the final segments of Interstate Highway to be completed in Georgia. The temporary end of I-20 in Alabama was at SR 46. Also, the final section of I-20 connecting Tuscaloosa and Birmingham was completed, as the section of US 11 between the Tuscaloosa–Jefferson county line and Bessemer was upgraded from an expressway to a limited-access highway.
In the early 1980s, segments connecting Cuba and Livingston and then Livingston and Epes completed I-20 between the Mississippi state line and Birmingham. The final segment of the route to be completed was an eight-mile-long (13 km) section between Irondale and Leeds. This segment opened in 1985.
I-20 has no three-digit spur routes in Alabama, although at one time there was discussion of a spur northward from Oxford into Anniston which would also serve as a connection to the US Army base at Fort McClellan as well as to Gadsden. The closing of the base as well as a lack of population between Anniston and Gadsden eliminated the necessity of such a route. I-459 south of Birmingham connects to I-20 east and west of the city, continuing to I-59 northeast of the routes' split.
On January 21, 2019, along the concurrency with I-59, a segment of the Interstate, as well as an interchange with I-65 locally known as "Malfunction Junction" was closed for demolition; it will be converted to a redesigned stack interchange with right-side exits.[2]
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