Alabama State Route 35

Infobox road
state=AL
type=AL
route=35
length_mi=50
length_ref= [ [http://colepages.com/routes2650.html Highway Route Info Routes 26 - 50 ] ]
length_round=
established=1940
direction_a=South
direction_b=North
starting_terminus=
junction= northwest of Scottsboro
ending_terminus=
previous_type=AL
previous_route=34
next_type=AL
next_route=36

State Route 35 is a 50-mile long state route in the northeastern part of the state. The southern terminus of the route is at its junction with State Route 9 in rural Cherokee County northeast of Cedar Bluff and near the Alabama-Georgia state line. The northern terminus of the route is at Woodville in Jackson County where the route has its second junction with U.S. Highway 72.

Route description

North of its origin, State Route 35 begins an ascent over Lookout Mountain as a two-lane road. The route heads in a northwestwardly direction as it passes through the Little River Canyon National Preserve along the county line dividing Cherokee County and DeKalb County leading into Fort Payne. As the highway descends Lookout Mountain within the Fort Payne city limits, it makes a 90-degree right turn at the foot of the mountain. Numerous trucks descending this route have suffered brake failure and wrecked at this turn as a result, causing numerous fatalities. One resident living at this turn, a Joe Faulkner, erected a reinforced concrete wall to protect his property. The wall assumed the popular name, "Joe's Truck Stop." [ [http://www.gadsdentimes.com/article/20060131/NEWS/601310335 "Truck Hits Joe's Truck Stop," "The Gadsden Times", January 31, 2006, p. 6A] ]

From Fort Payne, State Route 35 is routed along a four-lane divided highway as it leads towards Rainsville. The highway is a four-lane highway from its intersection with U.S. Highway 11 in Fort Payne to its intersection with U.S. Highway 72 in Scottsboro, except for a brief stretch from near its intersection with Alabama State Route 71 in Section, to the foot of Sand Mountain and the east bank of the Tennessee River, where it intersects Alabama State Route 40. The Alabama Department of Transportation plans to eventually four-lane this remaining section of the Fort Payne-Scottsboro route. ["Scottsboro Mayor Seeks Money to Widen Ala. 35," "The Huntsville Times", January 29, 2001, p. B2] The highway crosses the Tennessee River over the B.B. Comer Bridge (southbound) and the Bob Jones Bridge (northound). A new bridge is under construction to replace the B.B. Comer Bridge, and is expected to open in 2012. ["Work Begins on Replacing Comer Bridge," "The Huntsville Times", October 11, 2007, p. B1] In the early 1990s, a section of the highway was rerouted from a dogleg extending from Fort Payne through Pine Ridge to Rainsville along the natural slope of Sand Mountain, to the current four-lane route. ["Highway 35 Section to be Widened," "The Huntsville Times", July 5, 1996 p. B2] The current route reaches the brow of Sand Mountain along a remarkable manmade ramp that lifts the highway into a manmade gap in the side of the mountain.

Until 1980, the northern terminus of State Route 35 was at Scottsboro, where it intersected U.S. Highway 72. It was extended westward along the former alignment of US-72 after the U.S. Highway was relocated to a new four-lane highway between Scottsboro and Huntsville. Although SR-35 travels in south by southwestward trajectory as it leaves Scottsboro, it is signed as “North SR-35” until its terminus at a second intersection with US-72 at Woodville in western Jackson County.

Counties traversed

*Cherokee County
*DeKalb County
*Jackson County

Cities and towns along the route

*Gaylesville
*Blanche
*Fort Payne
*Pine Ridge
*Rainsville
*Powell
*Section
*Scottsboro
*Woodville

Major intersections

*State Route 68 at Gaylesville
*State Route 273 at Blanche
*State Route 176 near Fort Payne
*U.S. Highway 11 at Fort Payne, where the routes briefly share a wrong-way concurrency
*Interstate 59 at Fort Payne
*State Route 75 at Rainsville
*State Route 71 at Section
*State Route 40 south of Scottsboro
*U.S. Highway 72 and State Route 279 at Scottsboro
*State Route 79 northwest of Scottsboro

References

External links

* [http://www.nps.gov/archive/liri/home/home.htm National Park Service: Little River Canyon National Preserve]