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Wikipedia / U.S. Route 80

U.S. Route80 or U.S. Highway 80 (US80) is a major east–west United States Numbered Highway in the Southern United States, much of which was once part of the early auto trail known as the Dixie Overland Highway. As the "0" in the route number indicates, it was originally a cross-country route, from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean. Its original western terminus was at Historic US 101 in San Diego, California. However, the entire segment west of Dallas, Texas, has been decommissioned in favor of various Interstate Highways and state highways starting in 1967, being truncated to its current west end in 1991. Currently, the highway's western terminus is at an interchange with Interstate 30 (I-30) on the Dallas–Mesquite city line. Its eastern terminus is on Tybee Island, Georgia, near the Atlantic Ocean. Between Longview, Texas, and Cuba, Alabama, US 80 runs parallel to or concurrently with Interstate 20. It also currently runs through Dallas, Texas; Shreveport, Louisiana; Jackson, Mississippi; Montgomery, Alabama; Columbus, Georgia; Macon, Georgia; and Savannah, Georgia.

Route description

|- |TX |161 |259 |- |LA |199 |320 |- |MS |157 |253 |- |AL |218 |351 |- |GA |300 |483 |- |Total |1,035 |1,666 |}

Texas

Modern US80 begins as a significant component of the urban freeway system of Dallas, Texas. With Spur 557, it serves as the shortest freeway route from the central and northern portions of Dallas to I-20, heading east towards Shreveport, Louisiana.

From its origin at I-30 in eastern Dallas, through its interchange with the I-635 "LBJ" Loop, to its junction with I-20 southwest of Terrell, US80/Spur557 is a full Interstate-grade, limited-access freeway. (This freeway was originally built as I-20 but was rerouted south of Dallas in 1971 and 1991.) In western Terrell, US80 leaves the freeway, which continues southeast as Spur557 to I-20, while US80 runs north of I-20 through a number of small towns and cities, including Terrell, Mineola, Longview, and Marshall. It rejoins I-20 for about , before splitting to pass through downtown Waskom before crossing into Louisiana.

Louisiana

US80 is parallel to the newer I-20, which has supplanted it as a long-distance route, for the entirety of its length in Louisiana.

The highway crosses the state line from Texas into Caddo Parish as a two-lane road and crosses over to the south of I-20 without connecting with the freeway. It passes through the town of Greenwood where it meets US 79 coming north from Texas, and these two routes run concurrently eastward from there to Minden. US79/US80 crosses over I-20 again, this time at an interchange, and enters the city of Shreveport as Greenwood Road. The highway passes over I-220 without an interchange and continues east to an intersection with Jefferson Paige Road where it expands to four undivided lanes and enters the main part of the urbanized area. US 171 ends at US79/US80 at the intersection with Hearne Avenue. At this intersection, the road narrows to two through lanes. US80 intersects I-20 again just east of here. At Mansfield Road (old US171), the highway name changes to Texas Avenue and angles northeast through an industrial area. The road skirts the I-20/I-49 interchange and expands to four lanes for its final approach to downtown. At the west edge of downtown, eastbound jogs one block east on Crockett Street and two blocks north on Common Street north to Texas Street; westbound jogs one block south from Texas Street down Common to Texas Avenue. US79/US80 passes through downtown Shreveport on Texas Street before crossing the Red River on the 1930s vintage Long–Allen Bridge and entering Bossier City and Bossier Parish.

Through Bossier Parish, US79/US80 comprises a major urban and suburban arterial (East Texas Street) carrying a minimum of four lanes. In the eastern reaches of the parish, and continuing into Webster Parish, it is a divided highway. The road intersects the east end of I-220 at an interchange. US79/US80 stays to the north of I-20, except for a stretch east of Haughton where it strays to the south for a period, skirting the north edge of the Louisiana Army Ammunition Plant. At Dixie Inn, the highway intersects US 371. In Minden, US79 separates from US80 and continues its northeasterly trajectory toward Arkansas.

East of Minden, US80 crosses to the south of I-20 and serves the Bienville Parish towns of Gibsland and Arcadia. Entering Lincoln Parish, the highway serves Simsboro and Grambling before entering Ruston (via West California Avenue) and overlapping US 167 on a north–south couplet of streets (Vienna Street/Trenton Street) through the business district. US80 resumes its eastward path on the north side of Ruston and exits the city on East Georgia Avenue.

Between Ruston and Monroe the highway serves the small communities of Choudrant and Calhoun. Now on the north side of the interstate, it enters Ouachita Parish and approaches the Monroe area as a two-lane road. US80 crosses Louisiana Highway 143 (LA143) and enters West Monroe on Cypress Street, where it continues south into the business district and widens to a four-lane urban arterial. At junction LA 34 (Bridge Street), US80 makes a left turn, angling northeast, and crosses the Ouachita River, entering the city of Monroe. As Louisville Avenue it passes north of downtown, but the downtown area can be accessed via Business US165 which intersects US80 at North 5th/North 6th Street and becomes concurrent from there to the east. Louisville Avenue rapidly becomes a heavily commercialized urban arterial and remains so as it passes through the city, eventually curving southwestward and meeting the intersection with Desiard Street.

As Desiard Street, US80 immediately meets mainline US 165, on its expressway bypass alignment, at a diamond interchange. Eastward from there, US80 passes through suburban areas until it meets LA139, where it is forced to turn off its four-lane alignment at an intersection which favors LA139 traffic. Now a two-lane road, US80 continues east through northeast Louisiana, passing through Richland and Madison parishes and serving the communities and towns of Start, Rayville (intersection with US425), Delhi (intersection with LA17), Tallulah (intersection with U.S. Route 65), Mound, and Delta.

Just west of Delta, US80 turns off its original route and runs a short distance south to an interchange with I-20. The original alignment of US80 into Delta is now designated as LA 3218. The original US 80 Mississippi River Bridge remains active as a rail bridge but the roadway portion is closed to traffic. Today, US80 runs concurrent with the interstate around Delta to the state line, bypassing the town and crossing the Mississippi River bridge into Vicksburg, Mississippi.

Mississippi

In Mississippi, US80 is referred to as "Highway80" and exists primarily as a two-lane road except in the Jackson area, where it expands to four lanes.

US80 out of Louisiana runs concurrently with I-20 across the Mississippi River through Vicksburg, to Clinton. When US80 reaches the western edge of Clinton, it separates to pass directly through the cities of Clinton, Jackson, Flowood, Pearl, and Brandon. After Brandon, US80 runs parallel to I-20 for the next through the towns of Pelahatchie, Morton, Forest, Lake, Newton, Hickory, and Chunky. East of Chunky, US80 once again merges with I-20 until it separates again in Meridian, where it merges with US 11 as a two-lane highway heading through the town of Toomsuba and finally ending at the Alabama state line.

Alabama

In Alabama, US80 enters the state near and parallel with I-20 in Cuba. It is co-signed with US11 until it splits at Cuba and runs east across the center of the state. It is a major highway through Alabama, going through Demopolis and Selma. It continues to Montgomery, where it continues east through Shorter and Tuskegee and leaves the state in Phenix City.

The routing from Meridian, Mississippi to Cuba, Alabama originally ran along its current route but for some 30 years it traveled along I-20 and I-59. However, the routing reverted to the original road early in the 2000s. It is internally designated by the Alabama Department of Transportation as State Route 8 (SR 8).

Georgia

US80 crosses the Chattahoochee River from Alabama into Columbus, where it proceeds along J. R. Allen Parkway through the northern section of the city. Past Columbus, the road meanders through rural Georgia for roughly en route to Macon, where it crosses I-75 and I-16. US80 passes through downtown Macon via Eisenhower Parkway and parallels the northern boundary of Ocmulgee National Monument just east of the city.

Beyond Macon, US80 turns southeastward, passing through the cities of Dublin, Swainsboro and Statesboro and running roughly parallel to I-16. On the outskirts of Savannah, US80 crosses I-95 and follows Louisville Road into the city's downtown area. After briefly merging with I-516, US80 continues eastward along Victory Drive, just south of Savannah's historic district. At the community of Thunderbolt, US80 crosses the Wilmington River and proceeds across the islands and marshes along the Atlantic Coast east of Savannah. There it crosses the Lazaretto Creek onto Tybee Island. The final stretch of US80 follows Butler Avenue across Tybee Island. A small monument at the intersection of Butler and Tybrisa Street marks the end of the highway.

History

Established in 1914 by the Automobile Club of Savannah, the Dixie Overland Highway auto trail was the first major route connecting San Diego, California and Savannah, Georgia. The Dixie Overland Highway Association debated on a definitive western end point for the highway in southern California. California politicians Stanley Hufflund and Ed Fletcher convinced the association in an August 1918 meeting to choose San Diego over Los Angeles. Fletcher was responsible for a grassroots campaign years earlier that resulted in the construction of the Plank Road across the Algodones Dunes in 1915. The Plank Road was the final link in the main highway to San Diego. The association agreed to make San Diego the Dixie Overland Highway's western terminus in 1919 and elected Fletcher as the association's president. The highway now followed most of what would become US 80, except between Sweetwater, Texas and El Paso. The section of future US 80 through Odessa, Midland and Abilene was instead part of the Bankhead Highway. Other sections of future US 80 were designated as parts of the Lee Highway and the Old Spanish Trail.

In April 1925, the Secretary of Agriculture established the Joint Board on Interstate Highways under the United States Bureau of Public Roads. The board began planning what would become the United States Numbered Highway System. One of the planned highways was US80 between Savannah and San Diego. The board's highway system proposal was submitted by the Secretary of Agriculture to the newly formed American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO), which made changes and revisions to the route before adopting the finalized system. On November 11, 1926, all the proposed highways in the system, including US 80, were officially designated. Ed Fletcher continued his involvement with the route after it became US 80, becoming president of the newly formed US 80 Highway Association. During his time with the association, Fletcher lobbied the federal government to pay for improvements to the highway and actively promoted US 80 to motorists.

US80 was advertised as the first all-weather coast-to-coast route for auto travelers. Originally, its western terminus was in San Diego at US 101, and its eastern terminus in Savannah at US 17. When first commissioned, the highway was approximately . By 1931, it had been shortened to and the eastern terminus extended to Tybee Island. According to the United States Department of Agriculture Bureau of Public Roads, only were considered "improved" roadway in 1931, being paved with brick, concrete or macadam. The remainder was surfaced of lesser materials such as gravel or dirt. In 1947, the U.S. Highway 80 Association (not to be confused with Fletcher's earlier organization) was founded to promote business and tourism along US 80 from Savannah to San Diego. Tourism and travel had sharply declined on the entire route since the 1930s. In 1949, the Association was divided into three divisions: The western division, in Tucson, Arizona; the central, in Colorado City, Texas; and the eastern, in Ruston, Louisiana. The U.S. Highway 80 Association resolved to offer membership to businesses along the route, print promotional booklets and strip maps, and pay for billboard ads to attract tourists to drive US 80 from coast to coast. The Association hoped it would also induce travelers on U.S. Route 66 to consider US 80 instead.

Throughout the 1950s, US80 grew to become a popular highway that often competed with US66. At one point, more cars were recorded entering California on US80 than on US66. Like US66, US80 become a keystone highway in American car culture. This renaissance was short-lived, however, with the creation of the Interstate and Defense Highway System in 1957. Four Interstates were slated to replace US 80 as a major highway: Interstate 8 between San Diego and Yuma, Arizona; Interstate 10 between Tucson and Pecos, Texas; Interstate 20 between Pecos and Meridian, Mississippi; and Interstate 16 between Macon, Georgia and Savannah. Between 1964 and 1991, US80 was slowly removed in increments between Dallas and San Diego. It was considered obsolete to the western states, which favored the new Interstate highways. As such, US 80 is no longer an active U.S. Highway in California, Arizona, New Mexico and western Texas. Today, I-8, I-10 and I-20 have replaced US80 between Dallas and San Diego. Notable surviving sections of old US80 include the entirety of both New Mexico State Road 80 and Arizona State Route 80, and all of County Route S80 in Imperial County, California. Other former sections of US80, particularly in California and parts of Arizona, carry the title Old Highway 80 or similar variations of that name. Multiple efforts are being made to designate whole sections of US80 as an historic route. California became the first state to recognize Historic U.S. Route 80 in 2007. As of 2018, California, Arizona and Louisiana recognize former and current sections of US80 as an historic route.

For a time known as the "Broadway of America", US 80's history is second only to US66 in American highway folklore, as several significant historical events have occurred on or near US80. Bonnie and Clyde were ambushed on LA 154, just south of US80 near Gibsland, Louisiana. Coincidentally, Clyde Barrow was buried with his brother just off former US80 in Dallas. Lee Harvey Oswald was captured at the Texas Theatre on Jefferson Street in Oak Cliff, which at the time was a business spur of US80. Much of the former route in Arizona between Yuma and Gila Bend follows the marching routes used by General Stephen Watts Kearny's army as well as Lieutenant Colonel Philip St. George Cooke and the Mormon Battalion to California during the Mexican–American War. Further east on old US80 (now AZ80) near the New Mexico and Arizona state line stands a monument marking the place where the Apache warrior Geronimo surrendered to the United States Army in 1886. In Tombstone, the O.K. Corral, site of the infamous gunfight, is on the south side of Fremont Street, an old alignment of US80. US80 was the route taken by the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches in Alabama during the American Civil Rights Movement. Prior to the successful march, the Edmund Pettus Bridge on US80 in Selma was the site of the infamous Bloody Sunday event, where marchers were beaten and wounded by local law enforcement and armed vigilantes. In downtown Dallas, President John F. Kennedy was shot in Dealey Plaza just blocks from Commerce Street, which was part of US 80 and Business US 80.

California

US80 originally had its western terminus in San Diego. It was gradually decommissioned between 1964 and 1974 as I-8, through San Diego and Imperial counties, was completed.

Most former sections of US80 in San Diego County are no longer part of the state highway system, with only small segments serving as extensions of CA 79 and CA 94. The southernmost section of the Cabrillo Freeway in San Diego is another exception, now designated as CA 163. The freeway between downtown and Washington Street served as part of US80 from the late 1940s up until the mid-1950s.

The highway started at a junction with 12th Avenue and Market Street, which at the time was US101 (also decommissioned in San Diego County). In later years, US80 was extended down Market Street to Pacific Highway when US101 was rerouted along the water around downtown. US80 followed 12th Avenue, Park Boulevard and El Cajon Boulevard northeast out of the San Diego metro area. Most of old US80 between El Cajon and Jacumba remains intact, often utilizing the original concrete roadway. Old US80 often stays close to I-8. Sometimes it serves as the north or south frontage road or a parallel county road through communities such as Alpine, Willow, Guatay, Live Oak Springs and Boulevard. Often, the road through San Diego County is called Old Highway 80. In Descanso Junction, the pre-interstate route follows Wildwood Glen Lane from a dead end on the north side of I-8 to CA79. The majority of the road was closed to traffic in 2005. Old US80 heads south, touching the Mexican border, then passes through Jacumba before being subsumed into I-8 at Desert View Tower. Through the In-Ko-Pah Gorge, old US80 is impassable by car and often can only be seen from the side of I-8.

Former US80 through most of the Imperial Valley is now part CountyRouteS80 and CA 115. From the junction with CA115 and I-8 to Gordon's Well, US 80 acts as the north frontage road to the Interstate. It is known as Evan Hewes Highway from State Route 115 to Gordon's Well. From SR 115 to Gordon's Well it crosses the east Highline Lateral Eight, passes by the BLM Hot Springs and Holtville Hot Springs, the Brock Reservoir at Warren H. Brock Reservoir, Gordon's Well RV Park and Storage and Duner's Diner. It has junctions with a road that leads to California State Route 98, Brock Research Center Road and Gordon's Well Road. All have connections to I-8. At Grays Well, a dead end section of US80 exists on the south side of I-8 as Grays Well Road. Today it serves as an access road for recreationists visiting the Algodones Dunes and viewing the 1916 Old Plank Road, the first highway across the dunes to Yuma and an immediate predecessor to US80. Crumbled remains of the original asphalt US80, built in 1926, can be seen here too. The I-8 north frontage road through the hamlet of Felicity is also a section of old US80. It is known as Center of The World drive that runs from Ogilby road to Sidewinder road. In Winterhaven, the old route takes Araz Road past the ruins of Araz Stage Station, an old stop on the Butterfield Overland Stage Line, to I-8 Business. The Business Route into Yuma is the final alignment, while the original used part of County Route S24 and Picacho Road to take the 1914 Ocean to Ocean Bridge into Yuma. The California State Legislature declared the entirety of former US80 in California as Historic U.S.Route80 in 2007.

Arizona

In Arizona, US80 was first established in 1926 and took a route through Yuma, Phoenix, Tucson and Douglas. Between 1977 and 1989, US80 was removed from Arizona in favor of I-10 and I-8. Much of US 80 in Arizona remains intact and completely undisturbed by I-8 and I-10, as both Interstates were constructed on more direct routes through Casa Grande and Willcox respectively, where US80 was often a very long and indirect route through the state.

US80 originally entered Arizona on land north of the Colorado River and crossed over into Yuma on the Ocean To Ocean Bridge, following Penitentiary Avenue and 1st Street to 4th Avenue (I-8 Business). After 1956, US80 came into Arizona on I-8 Business to an intersection with the earlier route. US80 then proceeded to follow I-8 Business past US 95 through Yuma. It then followed I-8 from Yuma through Telegraph Pass to Ligurta, where it split off onto Old Highway 80. US80 headed east a few miles north of I-8 through Wellton and Tacna to Mohawk, where it rejoined I-8. The route split off again south of I-8 through Dateland and followed the south frontage road to Aztec, rejoining I-8 again.

In Theba, US80 split off again as the south frontage road east to I-8 Business through Gila Bend to AZ 85. AZ85, between Gila Bend and Buckeye, is the only section of former US80 west of Dallas not bypassed by an Interstate. Though AZ85 is itself a bypass of the original route through Arlington and Cotton Center. Today the older route is known as Old US80 Highway. In Buckeye, US80 took MC85/Buckeye Road east through Goodyear and Avondale into Phoenix.

From Buckeye Road, US80 travelled north on 17th Avenue, then east on Van Buren Street through the Phoenix metro area. Van Buren changes its name several times to Mill Avenue in Tempe, Main Street in Mesa and Apache Trail/Old West Highway through Apache Junction, before US80 joined the route of US 60 to Florence Junction. Today, US80 from Florence Junction through Florence to Tucson consists of AZ 79, AZ79 Business and AZ 77 south of Oracle Junction. In Tucson, US80 continued south on Oracle Road past West Miracle Mile. The highway used Drachman Street, Stone Avenue, 6th Avenue and Benson Highway to I-10 east of town.

For the most part, US80 followed I-10 east to Benson. Near Vail, an older section of US80 still exists as the north frontage road and Marsh Station Road. In Benson, US80 took I-10 Business to AZ80, where it headed southeast to Tombstone. AZ80 takes its number from the former U.S. Highway and makes up the majority of the former route through Cochise County through Tombstone, Bisbee and Douglas to NM80 at the New Mexico state line. The earlier routing in Bisbee took Old Divide Road and Main Street through town, while the older Douglas route used G Avenue, 10th Street and A Avenue.

US80 had a major impact on developing Arizona's car culture and at times, would compete with US66 In overall popularity. At one point in the mid-1950s, more people entered California through Arizona on US80 than on US66. In Tucson there are over 281 extant historic motels and structures along the original US80 alignment, especially on the Miracle Mile and Benson Highway segments. Part of former US 80 through Tucson was added to the National Register of Historic Places in December 2017 as the Miracle Mile Historic District. On September 21, 2018, the Arizona Transportation Board designated the old alignment of US 80 as a state Historic Road connecting with the designation in California. The alignment was nominated by the Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation.

New Mexico

Through New Mexico, US80 travelled through Lordsburg, New Mexico, Deming and Las Cruces. Between 1989 and 1991, US80 was removed from New Mexico since it was supplanted almost entirely by I-10.

US 80 entered New Mexico on present day NM 80 passing through Rodeo before heading north to join the route of I-10 at Road Forks. Between Road Forks and the Texas border, US 80 was often the subject of major realignment.

The later routings generally follow what is now I-10, US 70, US 180 and I-10 Business through Lordsburg and Deming, between Road Forks and Las Cruces. From Las Cruces, US 80 used Valley Drive, the I-10 west frontage road and NM 460 to reach SH 20 in Texas.

The older routings utilized a now abandoned roadway between the Union Pacific Railroad and I-10 from Road Forks to Deming. Older US 80 followed present day I-10 Business and US 70 through Lordsburg. The older route through Deming followed NM 418 into Deming, then east on Spruce Street, I-10 Business/US 180 and NM 549 through Cambray back to I-10. Where NM 549 takes on the form of the south frontage road, US 80 followed a now abandoned railbed northwest of Cambray for a short distance before rejoining the route of NM 549. Older US 80 then followed US 70 and NM 478 through Las Cruces to NM 460 and SH 20 at the Texas border.

Texas

From the New Mexico border, US80 (concurrent with US 85) formerly passed through the Mesilla Valley communities of Anthony, Vinton, and Canutillo. State Highway 20 (SH20) follows the original US80/US85 route. I-10 bypassed the original US80 routing in western El Paso County, and now parallels the old US80 route a few miles east until crossing it at the current junction with SH20, where I-10 continues through El Paso, then heads off southeast towards San Antonio. SH20 follows the old alignment of US80 until downtown El Paso. Exiting El Paso, I-10 mostly follows the former routing of US80, but bypassing smaller towns in the Trans-Pecos that were formerly on US80 (such as Van Horn). I-10 then has a junction with I-20 outside of Kent. I-20 then follows former US80 all the way to Fort Worth, bypassing many old sections of US80 on the way. They are as follows:

Bus. I-20-E through Odessa and Midland, part of US80 until its 1991 truncation

In Fort Worth, I-20 breaks off the old US80 route at I-30's junction with I-20, which is also I-30's western terminus. Just east of the junction, I-30 leaves the pre-1991 route of US80, now Spur 580. Old US80 travels due east on Spur580 to US 377 (Camp Bowie Boulevard), where it heads northeast to the junction with I-30. At I-30, US377 and former US80 join the freeway into downtown Fort Worth; the old route—along Camp Bowie Boulevard and Lancaster Avenue—was once Bus. US 80.

The old route along Camp Bowie Boulevard in Fort Worth turned onto Lancaster Avenue to follow it to SH 180 under the Interstate 35W and Interstate 30 freeways, where the highway begins and follows SH 180 on Lancaster Avenue in Fort Worth, Division Street in Arlington, Main Street in Grand Prairie and Davis Street in Dallas.

Just east of downtown Fort Worth, US80 split from I-30 onto present SH 180 until 1991. Approaching downtown Dallas, the older route of US80 used Fort Worth Avenue and Commerce Street, designated Loop 260 and Bus. US 80 in 1952. (US80 had bypassed that route by 1939, but it was SH 1 until 1952.) The later US80 continued east on Davis Street, turning north at Zang Boulevard (Loop 354 until 1991), shifting to a route via SH180 to I-35E after 1961. Through and east of downtown, the route before it was rerouted onto present I-30 used Commerce Street, Parry Avenue, Haskell Avenue, Grand Avenue and Samuell Boulevard. (This was not assigned a number or a business route designation when it was bypassed.) In eastern Dallas, the old route merges with the present freeway at Town East Boulevard, shortly after present US80 begins at the split from I-30. US 80 eastbound, that ran from Fort Worth Avenue to Zang Boulevard near Oak Cliff along SH 180 in Dallas, made a left turn onto Zang Boulevard to follow it onto the Jefferson Viaduct and Market Street to make a right onto Commerce Street. Westbound US 80 turned off of Elm Street to go onto Houston Street to follow it, the Houston Street Viaduct and Zang Boulevard all the way to Davis Street (SH 180), where it turned right to follow it from there to Camp Bowie Boulevard in Fort Worth. In downtown Dallas, US 80 followed Commerce Street eastbound and Elm Street westbound. On Commerce Street in Dallas, US 80 goes onto Second Avenue to follow it to Main Street where it makes a left turn onto Main Street and a left onto First Avenue to head onto Robert B Cullum Boulevard to merge onto eastbound I-30/US 67 to follow that all the way to present US 80. Westbound US 80 breaks away from westbound I-30/US 67 to head onto First Avenue to make a left on Exposition Avenue to head onto Elm Street where it goes left to follow it into downtown Dallas.

FM 688 is the old alignment through Forney, bypassed in 1959 by the present freeway. Most of this route was a spur of FM 740 until 1960.

Louisiana

US80 was routed along the existing Dixie Overland Highway throughout Louisiana. Since 1921, this auto trail had also carried the designations of State Route 1 west of Shreveport and State Route 4 from Shreveport eastward. These routes remained co-signed with US80 until the 1955 Louisiana Highway renumbering. The few significant changes to the alignment of US80 over the years have resulted from the addition or replacement of bridges along the route, improvements that were largely carried out during the 1930s and the mid-1950s. The biggest project involved the construction of the first Vicksburg Bridge across the Mississippi River in 1930. This was followed by new bridges across the Red River at Shreveport–Bossier City (Long–Allen Bridge, 1933) and the Ouachita River in Monroe (P.M. Atkins Bridge, 1936). In both cases, new alignments carried traffic eastward from the bridges, bypassing the original routes through Bossier City and downtown Monroe. Minor relocation of the highway has also resulted from overpasses replacing several at-grade railroad crossings, as US80 parallels what is now the Kansas City Southern Railway throughout the state.

The opening of I-20 parallel to US80 occurred in stages between 1960 and 1977. This gradually transformed US80 from being the major highway across northern Louisiana to serving local traffic along the I-20 corridor. However, the highway has remained physically independent from I-20 with one exception. In 1980, the closing of the old Vicksburg Bridge to vehicular traffic resulted in US80 being shifted onto the newer I-20 Vicksburg Bridge to cross the Mississippi River.

Alabama

What is now US80 in Alabama was previously designated as Alabama State Road 26 (SR26) between 1924 and 1928. During the 1928 Alabama State Route renumbering, pre-1928 SR26 was replaced by Alabama State Route 8 (SR8). Today, SR8 is still the internal designation for US80 throughout the state, except for the section bypassing Selma (which is part of SR 14 and SR 41) and the westernmost section in the western part of the state, concurrent with US 11 (designated as SR7). The segments of SR8 not part of US80 are an unsigned spur between SR8's western terminus at I-20 and the US 80 Business route through Selma. The current routing of US80 between Cuba and Livingston was originally designated as SR162. US80 generally followed the route of present-day SR28 and US11 between Cuba and Livingston. In 1955, US80 was moved onto this newer highway, which was more direct and bypassed Coatopa, Livingston and York. The transition of US80 and SR8 to the new highway effectively retired the SR162 designation. Despite the Dixie Overland Highway no longer being an active highway, the state of Alabama still legally recognizes the entire length of US80 through the state under this name.

In 1965, the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, then part of US80, was the site of the infamous Bloody Sunday event. The Alabama National Guard, Selma and Dallas County law enforcement as well as armed non-law enforcement individuals brutally beat and trampled Civil Rights protesters with police batons, horses and barbed wire bats, bringing a pre-mature end to an attempted march to Montgomery. The brutality was captured on national television, sparking nationwide outrage regarding the abuse suffered by the protesters. Following Bloody Sunday, the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches followed US80 between the two cities. In 1996, this route was designated by the National Park Service as the Selma to Montgomery National Voting Rights Trail. An interpretive center is located along the route in Lowndes County and the various sites used as campgrounds are marked along the route. Today, the old section of US80 through Selma, including the Edmund Pettus Bridge, is signed as US80 Business.

Major intersections

  1. Texas

  2. on the Dallas–Mesquite city line

  3. in Mesquite

  4. in Mineola

  5. in Gladewater

  6. in Longview

  7. in Marshall

  8. west-southwest of Jonesville. The highways travel concurrently to west of Waskom.

  9. Louisiana

  10. in Greenwood. The highways travel concurrently to Minden.

  11. in Greenwood

  12. in Shreveport

  13. in Shreveport

  14. in Shreveport

  15. in Bossier City

  16. in Dixie Inn

  17. southeast of Minden

  18. in Ruston. The highways travel concurrently through Ruston.

  19. east of Calhoun

  20. in Monroe

  21. in Rayville

  22. in Tallulah

  23. in Delta. The highways travel concurrently to Clinton, Mississippi.

  24. Mississippi

  25. in Vicksburg. The highways travel concurrently through Vicksburg.

  26. in Jackson

  27. in Jackson

  28. in Brandon

  29. in Brandon

  30. east-southeast of Lake

  31. west-southwest of Meridian. The highways travel concurrently to Meridian.

  32. in Meridian. The highways travel concurrently to Meridian.

  33. in Meridian. The highways travel concurrently to Cuba.

  34. west of Kewanee

  35. Alabama

  36. in Demopolis. The highways travel concurrently through Demopolis.

  37. in Montgomery

  38. in Montgomery. The highways travel concurrently through Montgomery.

  39. in Montgomery. US80/US82 travels concurrently through Montgomery.

  40. in Montgomery

  41. in Montgomery. US80/US231 travels concurrently through Montgomery.

  42. in Montgomery. I-685/US80 will travel concurrently to east-northeast of Mount Meigs. I-85/US80 travels concurrently to northwest of Waugh.

  43. in Tuskegee. The highways travel concurrently to Tuskegee National Forest.

  44. in Phenix City. The highways travel concurrently through Phenix City.

  45. Georgia

  46. in Columbus

  47. in Columbus

  48. south-southwest of Salem. The highways travel concurrently for approximately .

  49. in Roberta

  50. in Macon

  51. in Macon

  52. in Macon

  53. in Macon. The highways travel concurrently through Macon.

  54. in Macon

  55. in Macon. The highways travel concurrently to west of Crystal Springs.

  56. in Dublin

  57. in Dublin. The highways travel concurrently to East Dublin.

  58. north-northeast of Norristown

  59. in Swainsboro

  60. in Hopeulikit. The highways travel concurrently to Statesboro.

  61. in Statesboro

  62. in Blitchton

  63. in Pooler

  64. in Garden City. The highways travel concurrently to Savannah.

  65. in Savannah. The highways travel concurrently through Savannah.

  66. Butler Avenue/Inlet Avenue/Tybrisa Street in Tybee Island

See also

Related routes

References