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I-22 Updates

Blazer85

By Blazer85
in Birmingham

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Blazer85 Hamlet

Blazer85

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From a guy very-much in the know about this project...

Final paving being done on stretch from Jasper to Cherry Avenue near Brookside. Exit barriers already in place at Cherry Avenue. Just striping and signs and it will be ready to open. My guess is sometime this summer. The stretch from Cherry Avenue to US78 at Graysville will be local traffic only, all US78 traffic to and from Bham will use the stretch from Graysville to Jasper. This new road will bring new development (and traffic) to western side of Gardendale.
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kayman Town

kayman

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I've heard about the I-65 & I-22 interchange for years. When I was still an engineer major I heard that estimates for the project were hovering around $1B. I guess we will finally have that "big city interchange" that some have been craving for. Too bad it's not in Malfunction Junction, where a major redesign is needed.

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codyg1985 Whistle-Stop

codyg1985

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Final paving being done on stretch from Jasper to Cherry Avenue near Brookside. Exit barriers already in place at Cherry Avenue. Just striping and signs and it will be ready to open. My guess is sometime this summer. The stretch from Cherry Avenue to US78 at Graysville will be local traffic only, all US78 traffic to and from Bham will use the stretch from Graysville to Jasper. This new road will bring new development (and traffic) to western side of Gardendale.
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Birmingham Bound Unincorporated Area

Birmingham Bound

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This is a bit unrelated to the rest of the thread, but I've been disappointed in ALDOT as of late (yeah, I know... what's new?)... I was viewing pictures of I-22 construction and noticed that the state decimates everything within 50 feet of the interstate. What happened to the concept of tree-lined highways?

As much as I hate the transportation network in Atlanta, driving those heavily-forested interstates brings me much joy. Anyway, the rant is over. Hooray for I-22 and all that jazz. Oh, and someone asked about ALDOT buying ROW earlier to expand I-65. Well, current plans call for it to be widened from 6 lanes to 8 all the way to malfunction junction.

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Alabadrock Hamlet

Alabadrock

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I've heard about the I-65 & I-22 interchange for years. When I was still an engineer major I heard that estimates for the project were hovering around $1B. I guess we will finally have that "big city interchange" that some have been craving for. Too bad it's not in Malfunction Junction, where a major redesign is needed.
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codyg1985 Whistle-Stop

codyg1985

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so when will this entire project be completed. I know here in Memphis it will probably meet up with I-269 in Mississippi which should be completed in about ten years. Is the rest of the stretch b/w Memphis and Birmingham going to be ready before that?
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convulso Hamlet

convulso

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it is interstate spec all through MS. has been for several years. it's quite a shock to drive this highway through MS and then get into memphis, where it peters out in a very dirty and busted-ass part of town - germantown it ain't. anyone whose first visit to memphis is along this route will come away with an erroneous assumption that the city is all crap, which would be a mistake.

one of the highlights of my driving trips (the ones that follow the interstate, anyway) out west, though, is trying to navigate from 78 to I-40 through the memphis highway maze. i always get turned around and end up heading to st. louis or jackson before i realize what went wrong - the directional signage is for locals only. the drive over the mississippi makes the headache worth it, though.

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kayman Town

kayman

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it is interstate spec all through MS. has been for several years. it's quite a shock to drive this highway through MS and then get into memphis, where it peters out in a very dirty and busted-ass part of town - germantown it ain't. anyone whose first visit to memphis is along this route will come away with an erroneous assumption that the city is all crap, which would be a mistake.
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codyg1985 Whistle-Stop

codyg1985

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Memphis is one of those unfortunate suffers of an incomplete freeway system. The downtown interchange of I-240 & I-40 is complicated as hell. If it wasn't for the facts that I have family in the Memphis area and an avid map reader, I would have gotten lost in Memphis a number of times.
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Blazer85 Hamlet

Blazer85

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13 more miles of I-22 will open to traffic in the next week. The new segment to be opened next week will stretch from Walker County 81 to Cherry Ave. (near the Birmingham city limits). Work will continue on the 3-mile segment from Cherry Ave. to I-65. Planning for the segment from I-65 to US 31 is underway and a feasability study is being done to see about extending I-22 to I-20/59 east of Birmingham.

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Alabadrock Hamlet

Alabadrock

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If that portion eventually goes from I-65 east to I-20/59, then I would assume it would also get the I-22 designation, but if it just ends at US 31, then it would be interesting to see how it is numbered and signed. I would assume that it may not get a number at all, but instead it would be signed as "To US 31" or something like that.
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Blazer85 Hamlet

Blazer85

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Yeah... the study to extend I-22 to I-20/59 would by no means be intended to replace the northern beltline... it would simply be another alternative that would allow passers-thru to go from I-22 straight to I-20/59 without having to merge onto I-65 and create more mayhem for Malfunction Junction. It actually makes sense, but I dont know how many homes it would take or the cost so it might not be that feasible... but I'm glad they're at least looking into it.

BTW, anyone know when this week the new segment is supposed to open up? Even before I-22 is tied into I-65, I think we'll all start to see a huge explosion of residential, commercial, etc. growth in the area around Adamsville/Graysville/Brookside/Cardiff/Fultondale. Over the next 10 years, that section of Jefferson County will probably be the "hot spot."

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Alabadrock Hamlet

Alabadrock

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BTW, anyone know when this week the new segment is supposed to open up? Even before I-22 is tied into I-65, I think we'll all start to see a huge explosion of residential, commercial, etc. growth in the area around Adamsville/Graysville/Brookside/Cardiff/Fultondale. Over the next 10 years, that section of Jefferson County will probably be the "hot spot."
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