Alabama State Route 216 Explained

State:AL
Type:AL
Route:216
Map Custom:yes
Length Mi:26.1
Length Ref:[1]
Established:1978
Direction A:West
Terminus A: at Tuscaloosa
Direction B:East
Terminus B: at Bucksville
Counties:Tuscaloosa
Previous Type:AL
Previous Route:215
Next Type:AL
Next Route:217

State Route 216 (SR 216) is a numbered state highway in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. SR 216 follows the former route of US 11 through eastern Tuscaloosa County. It serves as an alternate route between Bessemer and Tuscaloosa (the other routes being I-20/59 and US 11). The route was commissioned in April 1978 after ALDOT took over the route formerly maintained by Tuscaloosa County as County Road 116.[2]

Route description

SR 216 starts in eastern Tuscaloosa at University Boulevard (SR 215) and Veterans' Memorial Drive and ends just as it crosses over I-20/59 and US 11 and SR 5 in Bucksville, just short of the Tuscaloosa-Jefferson county line. Though it connects to the twinned interstates at Exit 100, no mentioned is made of the route on interstate signage. The road continues under county maintenance into Jefferson County.

The highway passes through the coal-mining country of eastern Tuscaloosa County. The largest towns on the highway are Brookwood and Lake View. The highway is mostly narrow and windy and is known for the high number of fatal accidents on the Brookwood-to-Tuscaloosa stretch.[3]

Notes and References

  1. General Highway Map of Tuscaloosa County . Alabama Department of Transportation . 1999 . ALDOT Bureau of Transportation Planning, Survey & Mapping Division . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20081124143807/http://www.dot.state.al.us/NR/rdonlyres/7E832F57-3D50-4AF2-98FF-23816DABA59F/0/co63.pdf . 2008-11-24 .
  2. News: County highway renamed . Ed . Watkins . The Tuscaloosa News . April 28, 1978 . 1 .
  3. http://cramer.house.gov/HoR/AL06/Press+Room/Spencer+In+the+News/2005/Seeking+More+Funds+and+Fewer+Fatalities.htm $1.8 Million set aside for Highway 216