U.S. Route 78 in Alabama

Infobox road
state=AL
type=US
route=78
alternate_name=State Route 4
length_mi=192.192
length_ref=Alabama Department of Transportation, [http://www.dot.state.al.us/NR/rdonlyres/7B15B300-359D-413A-A7FA-ED33C8C261CD/0/CountyMilePostMaps.pdf County Milepost Maps] , accessed September 2007]
length_round=3
length_notes=(after I-22 is completed)
established=1926
direction_a=West
direction_b=East
starting_terminus=jct|state=MS|US|78 towards Fulton, MS
junction=jct|state=AL|US|43 near Hamilton
jct|state=AL|US|31 in Birmingham
jct|state=AL|US|431 in Anniston
ending_terminus=jct|state=GA|US|78 towards Atlanta, GA
previous_route=77
next_route=79
browse=al browse
previous_route=3
route=
next_route=5
U.S. Highway 78 (US-78), internally designated by the Alabama Department of Transportation as State Route 4 (SR-4), is a major east-west state highway across the central part of the U.S. state of Alabama. Due to the construction of Interstate 22 along the US-78 corridor west of Birmingham, part of US-78 is temporarily State Route 5 only, since that part of the new I-22/US-78/SR-4 is not completed. US-78 roughly parallels Interstate 20 from Birmingham east to the Georgia state line.

The only section of State Route 4 that is signed is along portions the completed sections of future I-22 (Corridor X, mainly west of Jasper. As of December 2007, Corridor X is open from the Mississippi State line through the West Jefferson community, rejoining the old alignment near Graysville. ALDOT mentions in a Birmingham News article in November 2007 that the old US 78 from the I-22 exit at Graysville westward to Jasper is actually now Alt US 78. However, there is no signage in place to support this. Also, there is a possibility that upon completion of I-22 that US 78 may be decommissioned west of Birmingham. The stretch from I-20/59 at the Arkadelphia Road exit in Birmingham to Jasper would continue to be signed as AL 5. West of Jasper, the old US 78 is already signed as AL 118 to Guin and then from Guin northward to I-22 at Hamilton is signed as US 43/US 278.

ignage Confusion

All of US 78 signage east of Birmingham only mentions US 78. However, west of Birmingham, a different and changing story exists. Along the existing US 78 from the I-20/I-59 interchange at Arkadelphia Road in Birmingham as well as the new corridor X (I-22) from Cherry Avenue westward to Jasper, US 78 signage is simply US 78, but uses the blue Appalachian corridor signage along the route of the new I-22. No mention is made of AL 4, which is US 78's hidden state highway designation. From the Jasper interchange with the Bevill Industrial Parkway westward to the AL 118 Carbon Hill exit the route is signed as US 78/ AL 4. But the signage is the traditional white shield with black numerals. Then from the Carbon Hill exit westward, the route is signed as US 78/ AL 4 using the blue Appalachian corridor signage. Also, when the stretch from Carbon Hill westward to Winfield opened in 2006 an overhead sign over the westbound lanes at the Carbon Hill/AL 118 exit actually identified the route as Interstate 78. This error has since been corrected and replaced with US 78 using the white shield with black numerals.

In Alabama, US-78 and SR-4 pass through or near the following cities and towns:
* Hamilton
* Guin
* Carbon Hill
* Jasper
* Sumiton
* Graysville
* Birmingham
* Leeds
* Pell City
* Oxford
* Heflin

US-78 and SR-4 intersect the following Interstate highways, U.S. highways, and major state routes in Alabama:
* U.S. Highway 43 and U.S. Highway 278 and unsigned State Route 171 at Hamilton
* Interstate I-22 at all points west of Graysville, Alabama.
* State Route 69 at Jasper
* State Route 5 at Jasper. US-78 and State Routes 4 and 5 overlap until they split in Birmingham
* Interstate 20/Interstate 59 in Birmingham
* U.S. Highway 11 and unsigned State Route 7 near historic Legion Field. US-11, US-78, SR-4 and SR-7 overlap as they enter downtown Birmingham from the west, and split at the intersection 1st Avenue North and 24th Street.
* Interstate 65 in Birmingham
* U.S. Highway 31, U.S. Highway 280, unsigned State Route 3 and unsigned State Route 38 in Birmingham
* Interstate 20 at Leeds
* U.S. Highway 411 and unsigned State Route 25 at Leeds
* Interstate 20 west of Pell City
* U.S. Highway 231 and unsigned State Route 53 at Pell City
* Interstate 20 at Riverside
* U.S. Highway 431, State Route 21 and unsigned State Route 1 at Oxford. US-78, U.S 431, SR-1 and SR-4 overlap until they split east of Oxford in rural Calhoun County
* State Route 9 at Heflin

References