Alabama State Route 20

State Route 20
Route information
Maintained by ALDOT
Length:	73.978 mi (119.056 km)
Major junctions
West end:	SR 69 northwest of Florence
	Natchez Trace Parkway northwest of Florence US 43 / US 72 / SR 157 at Florence US 72 Alt. / SR 157 at Muscle Shoals SR 67 at Decatur US 31 at Decatur
East end:	I‑65 / I‑565 / US 72 Alt. at Mooresville
Location
Counties:	Lauderdale, Colbert, Lawrence, Morgan, Limestone
Highway system
Alabama State Routes Interstate US State ← I‑20 SR 21 →

State Route 20 (SR-20) runs from the Tennessee state line (State Route 69) northwest of Florence, Alabama, east to I-65 east of Decatur in the northwestern Alabama. It crosses the Tennessee River at Florence (with US-43, US-72, SR-17, and SR-157) and also at Decatur (with US-31 and Alternate US-72)

Alternate US-72 follows Highway 20 from the Junction of US-72 at Muscle Shoals to I-65 east of Decatur, the entire stretch being four laned.

History

State Route 20 was created when Alabama renumbered State Route 41 with a statewide renumbering in 1929. The original route ran from US-72 at Muscle Shoals to US-31 at Decatur. This portion was named the Joe Wheeler Highway and markers commemorating this are still located on East (Decatur at Railroad/Church Streets) and West (Tuscumbia-Old Lee Highway) ends. In 1931, Highway 20 replaced State Route 2 following US-72 west to the Mississippi state line west of Margerum and in 1936 was extended east to Huntsville.

1957 saw many changes to SR-20. It was replaced again by SR-2 along US-72 to the Mississippi state line, and in turn SR-20 replaced SR-2 running north to Florence and northwest of Florence to the Tennessee state line (State Route 69), forming a route popularly known as New Savannah Highway. Highway 20 was also re-aligned to a much more direct route between Decatur and Huntsville, bypassing the town of Madison.

Beginning in the early 1980s, the eastern terminus of Highway 20 began retreating to the west. The original terminus was at Clinton Avenue and US-231/US-431 in downtown Huntsville. With the construction of I-565 in the early 1990s along the route of Highway 20 east of I-65, Highway 20 was slowly pulled back to its current terminus at the junction of I-65 and becomes I-565.

Major intersections

County	Location	mi	km	Destinations	Notes
Lauderdale	​	0.000	0.000	SR 69 north – Savannah	Tennessee state line
	​	7.645	12.303	Natchez Trace Parkway	interchange
	​	17.162	27.620	SR 133 south (Cox Creek Parkway) to US 43 north / US 72 east – Athens, Joe Wheeler State Park
	Florence	22.048	35.483	US 43 north / US 72 east / SR 13 north / SR 17 north (SR-2 east) – Port of Florence	Western end of US-43 / US-72 / SR-2 / SR-13 / SR-17 concurrency; interchange
Tennessee River		22.795	36.685	O'Neal Bridge
Colbert	Sheffield Muscle Shoals	24.475	39.389	SR 184 east (Second Street) – Muscle Shoals, Sheffield
	Tuscumbia / Muscle Shoals	27.803	44.745	US 43 south / SR 13 south / SR 17 south / US 72 west (SR-2) – Corinth	Eastern end of US-43 / US-72 concurrency; western end of US-72 Alt. concurrency
	​	29.870	48.071	SR 133 north / SR 157 north (Wilson Dam Road) / CR 57 south – Airport	west end of SR-157 overlap
	​	32.189	51.803	SR 157 south – Moulton, Cullman	Eastern end of SR-157 concurrency; no left turn westbound
Lawrence	Town Creek	43.103	69.368	SR 101 – Lexington, Hatton, Wheeler Dam, Joe Wheeler State Park
	Courtland	50.609	81.447	SR 33 south – Moulton, Courtland Historic District
Morgan	​	65.780	105.863	SR 67 south (Beltline Road)
	Decatur	69.147	111.281	US 31 south (6th Avenue / SR-3) – Hartselle	Western end of US-31 / SR-3 concurrency
Morgan Limestone		68.484	110.214	Steamboat Bill Memorial Bridges over Tennessee River
Limestone		72.130	116.082	US 31 north (SR-3) – Athens, Calhoun Community College	Eastern end of US-31 / SR-3 concurrency; interchange
		73.978	119.056	I‑65 – Nashville, Birmingham I‑565 east / US 72 Alt. east – Huntsville	Eastern terminus and signed as exits 1A (south) and 1B (north); I-65 north exit 340, south exit 340A-B
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus

Historic routes

Several sections of Old Highway 20 still exist:

• Lauderdale County Road 200 through Sullivans Crossroads, Central Heights, Lovelace and McGee Town, known as Old Savannah Highway.
• Lauderdale County Road 14 from McGee Town to Florence
• Colbert County Road 22 through Leighton.
• Jefferson Street through Courtland
• Old Trinity Road between Trinity and Decatur
• Old Highway 20 through Mooresville - The section east of Mooresville is part of the 1957 alignment.
• 1936 Alignment
  • Mooresville Road north of Mooresville through Belle Mina to Old Highway 20.
  • Old Highway 20 east through Greenbrier to County Line Road.
  • County Line Road north to Palmer Road.
  • Palmer Road east to Downtown Madison.
  • Old Madison Pike from Madison to I-565 / Exit 15.
• 1957 Alignment
  • Madison Boulevard from I-565 / Exit 5 to I-565 / Exit 13.
• Governors Drive in Huntsville from I-565 / Exit 17 to Clinton Avenue.
• Clinton Avenue in Huntsville to US-231/US-431, Memorial Parkway.

Corridor V

Corridor V is part of the Appalachian Development Highway System and follows the path of Highway 20 between Decatur and the eastern Terminus at Interstate 65.

See also

• Alabama portal
• U.S. Roads portal

External links

• Media related to at Wikimedia Commons