State Route 147 (SR 147) is a
state highway
A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either Route number, numbered or maintained by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered ...
maintained by the U.S. state of
Alabama
Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...
in the east-central part of Alabama. The highway acts as a
connector between
Interstate 85 (I-85) and
U.S. Route 29 (US 29) in the southern part of
Auburn and
US 431 between Auburn and
LaFayette.
Route description
SR 147 lies mostly within the
city limits
City limits or city boundaries refer to the defined boundary (real estate), boundary or border of a city. The area within the city limit can be called the city proper. Town limit/boundary and village limit/boundary apply to towns and villages. ...
of
Auburn. Approximately of the road travels through unincorporated
Lee County, while lies in rural
Chambers County.
SR 147 begins on College Street in Auburn at its junction with
Interstate 85
Interstate 85 (I-85) is a major Interstate Highway in the Southeastern United States. Its southern terminus is at an interchange with I-65 in Montgomery, Alabama; its northern terminus is an interchange with I-95 in Petersburg, Virginia, ...
at Exit 51 and
US 29
U.S. Route 29 or U.S. Highway 29 (US 29) is a north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs for from Pensacola, Florida, to Ellicott City, Maryland, just west of Baltimore, Maryland, in the Eastern United States, connect ...
. Whereas it once entered downtown Auburn, it now bypasses the city on its western and northern side on
Shug Jordan Parkway. At its intersection with College Street, the route turns north. It continues along Birmingham Highway and
US 280 (
internally designated as
SR 38) to mile 9.0, then continues on Heath Road in northern Auburn.
History
In 1939, the state of Alabama constructed the original segment of SR 147, connecting US 29 in downtown Auburn to what was then
US 241 (now US 280) at The Bottle. In 1947, SR 147 was extended north to
Gold Hill. The final extension from Gold Hill to US 431 to complete the northern portion of the highway did not occur until 1960. In 1998, the relocation of US 29 to I-85 led to the movement of the southern terminus of the highway from the intersection of Mitchum Avenue and College Street in downtown Auburn to a point south at the College Street interchange with I-85.
In 2006, the Alabama Department of Transportation began a relocation study for the southern half of SR 147. The study is to look at the possibility of rerouting the highway some west of Auburn, along the route of the proposed Auburn Outer Loop. The proposed relocation would begin at I-85 at the under-development Cox Road interchange (exit 50) and would travel north to connect with US 280 at mile marker 101.4, where it would join the current northern section of SR 147.
SR 267 was a
bypass of SR 147. The designation of SR 267 has been removed from the state highway system. SR 147 now follows that alignment.
SR 147 has been relocated along Shug Jordan Parkway by the
Alabama Department of Transportation
The Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) is the government agency responsible for transportation infrastructure in Alabama. The Department is organized into five geographic regions, with a Central Office located in Montgomery, Alabama, ...
. The highway no longer follows South College Street into downtown Auburn. When Shug Jordan Pkwy ends at North College Street, the highway turns to follow along North College Street to the area of north Auburn known as
The Bottle at US 280. Then, it follows its previous alignment through Gold Hill to its terminus at US 431 in
Oak Bowery, north of
Opelika
Opelika (pronounced ) is a city in and the county seat of Lee County in the east-central part of the U.S. state of Alabama. It is a principal city of the Auburn-Opelika Metropolitan Area. As of the 2020 census, the population of Opelika is ...
.
Major intersections
See also
References
External links
{{commons category-inline
147
Transportation in Lee County, Alabama
Transportation in Chambers County, Alabama
Auburn, Alabama
Auburn metropolitan area, Alabama
1939 establishments in Alabama