U.S. Route 80

Infobox U.S. Route
article_route=80

---

length_mi=1032
length_round=0
length_ref=Droz, Robert V. [http://www.us-highways.com/usbt.htm U.S. Highways : From US 1 to (US 830)] . URL accessed 02:55, 4 July 2006 (UTC).]
yrcom=1926
direction_a=West
from=Jct|state=TX|I|30|US|67 near Dallas, TX
junction=Jct|state=MS|I|20|I|59 at Meridian, MS
Jct|state=AL|I|65 at Montgomery, AL
Jct|state=AL|I|85 at Montgomery, AL
Jct|state=GA|I|185 at Columbus, GA
Jct|state=GA|I|75 at Macon, GA
Jct|state=GA|I|95 at Savannah, GA
direction_b=East
to=Jct|state=GA|GA|26|road=19th Street in Tybee Island, GA near Atlantic Ocean

U.S. Route 80 is an east-west United States highway. As the "0" in the route number indicates, it was originally a cross-country route, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. However, the entire segment west of Dallas, Texas, has been decommissioned in favor of various Interstate highways and state highways. Currently, the highway's eastern terminus is in Tybee Island, Georgia, at the Atlantic Ocean. Its western terminus is at the border of Dallas and Mesquite, Texas, at an intersection with Interstate 30. [http://www.geocities.com/usend8089/End080/end080.htm Endpoints of U.S. Highways] . URL accessed 4 July 2006.]

Route description

Texas

In western Terrell, US 80 leaves the freeway, which continues southeast as Spur 557 to Interstate Highway 20. It runs east through a number of small towns and cities, including Terrell, Mineola, Longview, and Marshall, before merging with IH 20 east of Marshall. It splits again in Waskom before crossing into Louisiana.

Louisiana

US 80 closely parallels Interstate 20 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 interchanging with the freeway. It passes through the town of Greenwood where it meets US 79 coming north from Texas, and these two routes are routed concurrently eastward from there to Minden. US 79/80 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 US 79/80 at the intersection with Hearne Avenue. At this intersection the road narrows to two through lanes. US 80 intersects I-20 again just east of here. At Mansfield Road (old US 171) the highway changes its name to Texas Avenue and angles northeast through an industrial area. The road skirts the I-20/49 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. US 79/80 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 US 79/80 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 eastward into Webster Parish, it is a divided highway. The road intersects the east end of I-220 at an interchange. US 79/80 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 US 79 separates from US 80 and continues its northeasterly trajectory toward Arkansas.

East of Minden US 80 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 multiplexing with US 167 on a north/south couplet of streets (Vienna Street/Trenton Street) through the business district. US 80 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. US 80 crosses LA 143 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) US 80 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 US 165 which intersects US 80 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 passes through the city, eventually curving southwestward and meeting the intersection with Desiard Street.

As Desiard Street US 80 immediately meets mainline US 165, on its expressway bypass alignment, at a diamond interchange. Eastward from there US 80 passes through suburban areas until it meets LA 139, where it is forced to turn off its four lane alignment at an intersection which favors LA 139 traffic. Now a two lane road, US 80 continues east through the flat alluvial landscape of northeast Louisiana, passing through Richland and Madison Parishes and serving the communities and towns of Start, Rayville (intersection with US 425), Delhi (intersection with LA 17), Tallulah (intersection with US 65), Mound, and Delta.

Just west of Delta US 80 turns off its original route and runs a short distance south to an interchange with I-20. The original alignment of US 80 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 US 80 runs concurrent with the interstate around Delta to the state line, bypassing the town and crossing the Mississippi River bridge into Vicksburg, Mississippi.

Mississippi

Legally, the Mississippi section of U.S. 80 is defined in Mississippi Code Annotated § 65-3-3. In Mississippi, it is called "Highway 80" and not "Route 80". The highway is mostly a 2-lane road in Mississippi. It is 2-lane from the state line at Meridian west to Brandon where it becomes a 4-lane road and continues, still west, as 4-lane through Pearl, Flowood, Jackson, and Clinton. Once out of the city limits of Clinton, the road becomes a 2-lane road again and stays a 2-lane west into Louisiana.

Alabama

In Alabama, US 80 enters the state along with Interstate 20 in Cuba, Alabama, where it splits from the interstate and runs east across the center of the state. It is a major highway through Alabama's Black Belt, going through Demopolis, Alabama and Selma, Alabama. It continues to Montgomery, Alabama, where it continues east through Shorter, Alabama and Tuskegee, Alabama and leaves the state in Phenix City, Alabama.

Georgia

US 80 crosses the Chattahoochee River from Alabama into Columbus, Georgia, where it proceeds along J. R. Allen Parkway through the northern section of the city. Past Columbus, the road meanders its way through rural Georgia for roughly convert|50|mi|km en route to Macon, where it crosses Interstate 75 and Interstate 16. US 80 passes through downtown Macon via Eisenhower Parkway and parallels the northern boundary of Ocmulgee National Monument just east of the city.

Beyond Macon, US 80 turns southeastward, passing through the cities of Dublin, Swainsboro and Statesboro and running roughly parallel to I-16. On the outskirts of Savannah, US-80 crosses Interstate 95 and follows Louisville Road into the city's downtown area. After briefly merging with Interstate 516, US-80 continues eastward along Victory Drive, just south of Savannah's historic district. At the community of Thunderbolt, US 80 crosses the Wilmington River and proceeds across the islands and marshes along the Atlantic Coast east of Savannah. The final stretch of US-80 follows Butler Avenue across Tybee Island. The highway terminates at 19th Street, a few hundred feet from the ocean. A small monument at the intersection of Butler and Tybrisa Street marks the end of the highway.

History

As a member of the inaugural class of US highways commissioned in 1926, US 80 was the first all-weather coast-to-coast route available to auto travelers. For a time known as the "Broadway of America", its legendary history is second only to U.S. Route 66 in American highway folklore, as several significant historical events have occurred on or near Highway 80. Bonnie and Clyde were ambushed approximately four miles south of US 80 in Gibsland, Louisiana. Lee Harvey Oswald was captured at the Texas Theatre on Jefferson Street in Oak Cliff, which at the time was a business spur of Highway 80.

California

US 80 originally had its western terminus in San Diego, California. It was decommissioned in 1964 when Interstate 8 through San Diego and Imperial Counties was completed. US 80 crossed into California after passing over the 1914 Ocean to Ocean Highway Bridge in Yuma, Arizona. After passing through Winterhaven, US 80 traveled through the Colorado Desert and the Algodones Dunes until it reached the former shoreline of prehistoric Lake Cahuilla. The path through the dunes replaced the Old Plank Road originally built in 1915. 80 then passed into the farmland of the Imperial Valley at Holtville. US 80 traveled parallel to the Holton Interurban Railway into El Centro. From this point to Ocotillo, the road has now been designated Imperial County Route S80, and carries the name "Evan Hewes Highway". In El Centro, the original alignment went right through the middle of town on Main Street, but this was later bypassed in favor of a route along 4th Street and Adams Avenue. The old road then passed through Seeley, the gypsum plant at Plaster City, and into Coyote Wells near present day Ocotillo. From Coyote Wells, US 80 ascended the In-Ko-Pah Gorge to Jacumba near the Mexican border. Old 1917 period concrete sections of highway can be seen in and around Jacumba. US 80 became a mountain highway as it entered the Jacumba and Laguna Mountains, and passed through the towns of Bankhead Springs, Boulevard, Live Oak Springs, La Posta, Pine Valley, Guatay, and Descanso Junction. More old sections of roadway are found east of Boulevard, west of Guatay, and on the long Wildwood Glen section west of Descanso Junction. Old US 80 is cut by the Interstate here but resumes soon afterwards and passes through the Viejas Indian Reservation. The highway traveled through Alpine on more than one path, passed through Flinn Springs and along the main streets of El Cajon, La Mesa, and the former town of East San Diego. Once in San Diego, US 80 had multiple alignments into the downtown area. These included: University Ave to Hillcrest and down 4th/5th Ave to Horton Plaza; a later alignment down Park Blvd to Broadway (US 101); then El Cajon Blvd to Park Blvd and a terminus at Market Street (US 101); an extension to the new routing of US 101 on Harbor Blvd; a new connection from El Cajon Blvd along Washington Street to the Cabrillo Freeway (current State Route 163) and into downtown; and finally a routing down the Alvarado Freeway (current Interstate 8) to end at the US 101 freeway that is now Interstate 5.

Arizona

Starts at the Colorado River crossing on the Coast-to-Coast Highway bridge, near Yuma. East of Yuma, the old route splits off Interstate 8 and parallels it to Gila Bend, it then heads to the north, crossing the Gila River near Gilpsie Dam, and heads east through towns of Buckeye, Goodyear, and Avondale before reaching the city of Phoenix. The currently historic alignment is present day Buckeye Rd or MC 85. It heads north on 17th Ave to Van Buren St. After passing through downtown Phoenix, it then heads east on Van Buren to Tempe, along Mill Ave to Apache Blvd. After passing through Tempe, Arizona, it continues heading east into Mesa and Apache Junction on Apache Trail. East of Apache Junction it travels on current U.S. Route 60 to Florence Junction. It turns south at the junction to Florence and continues south to Oracle Jct, north of Tucson. This stretch coincides Interstate 10, which it intersects in Tucson. East of Tucson at Benson, it cuts south and travels through Tombstone, Bisbee, and Douglas. At Douglas, which is on the Mexican border, it cuts northeast towards the New Mexico border.

In Tucson there are over 85 extant Historic Motels along the original route 80 alignment. A historic inventory is currently underway to determine National Register eligibility for these properties.

New Mexico

East of Douglas, Arizona, old US-80 almost heads due north to Interstate 10, following a path close to the Arizona border. It ultimately hits Interstate 10 west of Lordsburg, New Mexico and from there, generally follows Interstate 10 all the way to Texas.

Texas

From the New Mexico border, Interstate Highway 10 now follows the old US 80 route to the current junction with Interstate Highway 20, where IH 10 breaks off southeast towards San Antonio. IH 20 (which begins there) then follows former US 80 all the way to Fort Worth, bypassing many old sections of US 80 on the way. They are as follows:
*State Highway 20 from New Mexico via El Paso to IH 10 near McNary, bypassed 1969 [Texas Department of Transportation, [http://www.dot.state.tx.us/tpp/hwy/sh/sh0020.htm Highway Designation File - State Highway 20] ]
*Business Interstate Highway 10-C through Sierra Blanca (originally Loop 416 and Business U.S. Highway 80), bypassed 1965 [Texas Department of Transportation, [http://www.dot.state.tx.us/tpp/hwy/sl/sl0416.htm Highway Designation File - State Highway Loop 416] ]
*Business Interstate Highway 10-D through Van Horn (originally Loop 51 and Business U.S. Highway 80), bypassed 1975 [Texas Department of Transportation, [http://www.dot.state.tx.us/tpp/hwy/sl/sl0519.htm Highway Designation File - State Highway Loop 519] ]
*Business Interstate Highway 20-B through Pecos and Barstow, part of US 80 until its 1991 truncation [Texas Department of Transportation, [http://www.dot.state.tx.us/tpp/hwy/bi/bi0020b.htm Highway Designation File - Business Interstate Highway 20-B] ]
*Spur 57 through Pyote and Wickett, part of US 80 until its 1991 truncation [Texas Department of Transportation, [http://www.dot.state.tx.us/tpp/hwy/ss/ss0057.htm Highway Designation File - State Highway Spur 57] ]
*Business Interstate Highway 20-D through Monahans, part of US 80 until its 1991 truncation [Texas Department of Transportation, [http://www.dot.state.tx.us/tpp/hwy/bi/bi0020d.htm Highway Designation File - Business Interstate Highway 20-D] ]
*Business Interstate Highway 20-E through Odessa and Midland, part of US 80 until its 1991 truncation [Texas Department of Transportation, [http://www.dot.state.tx.us/tpp/hwy/bi/bi0020e.htm Highway Designation File - Business Interstate Highway 20-E] ]
**Spur 268 and State Highway 158 through downtown Midland (originally Business U.S. Highway 80), bypassed in 1953 [Texas Department of Transportation, [http://www.dot.state.tx.us/tpp/hwy/ss/ss0268.htm Highway Designation File - State Highway Spur 268] ]
*Business Interstate Highway 20-F through Stanton (originally Loop 214), part of US 80 until its 1991 truncation [Texas Department of Transportation, [http://www.dot.state.tx.us/tpp/hwy/sl/sl0214.htm Highway Designation File - State Highway Loop 214] ]
*Business Interstate Highway 20-G through Big Spring (originally Loop 402 and Business U.S. Highway 80), bypassed 1965 [Texas Department of Transportation, [http://www.dot.state.tx.us/tpp/hwy/sl/sl0402.htm Highway Designation File - State Highway Loop 402] ]
*Business Interstate Highway 20-H through Westbrook (originally Loop 333), bypassed 1958 [Texas Department of Transportation, [http://www.dot.state.tx.us/tpp/hwy/sl/sl0333.htm Highway Designation File - State Highway Loop 333] ]
*Business Interstate Highway 20-J through Colorado City (originally Loop 377 and Business U.S. Highway 80), bypassed 1963 [Texas Department of Transportation, [http://www.dot.state.tx.us/tpp/hwy/sl/sl0377.htm Highway Designation File - State Highway Loop 377] ]
*Business Interstate Highway 20-K through Loraine (originally Loop 316), bypassed 1957 [Texas Department of Transportation, [http://www.dot.state.tx.us/tpp/hwy/sl/sl0316.htm Highway Designation File - State Highway Loop 316] ]
*Business Interstate Highway 20-L through Roscoe (originally Loop 237), bypassed 1959 [Texas Department of Transportation, [http://www.dot.state.tx.us/tpp/hwy/sl/sl0237.htm Highway Designation File - State Highway Loop 237] ]
*Loop 170 past Sweetwater Municipal Airport, bypassed 1946 [Texas Department of Transportation, [http://www.dot.state.tx.us/tpp/hwy/sl/sl0170.htm Highway Designation File - State Highway Loop 170] ]
*Business Interstate Highway 20-M through Sweetwater (originally Loop 432 and Business U.S. Highway 80), bypassed 1966 [Texas Department of Transportation, [http://www.dot.state.tx.us/tpp/hwy/sl/sl0432.htm Highway Designation File - State Highway Loop 432] ]
*Business Interstate Highway 20-N through Trent (originally Loop 319), bypassed 1957 [Texas Department of Transportation, [http://www.dot.state.tx.us/tpp/hwy/sl/sl0319.htm Highway Designation File - State Highway Loop 319] ]
*Business Interstate Highway 20-P through Merkel (originally Loop 39), bypassed 1959 [Texas Department of Transportation, [http://www.dot.state.tx.us/tpp/hwy/sl/sl0039.htm Highway Designation File - State Highway Loop 39] ]
*Business Interstate Highway 20-Q through Tye (originally Loop 320), bypassed 1957 [Texas Department of Transportation, [http://www.dot.state.tx.us/tpp/hwy/sl/sl0320.htm Highway Designation File - State Highway Loop 320] ]
*Business Interstate Highway 20-R through Abilene (originally Loop 355 and Business U.S. Highway 80), bypassed 1961 [Texas Department of Transportation, [http://www.dot.state.tx.us/tpp/hwy/sl/sl0355.htm Highway Designation File - State Highway Loop 355] ]
*Business Interstate Highway 20-T through Baird (originally Loop 425), bypassed 1966 [Texas Department of Transportation, [http://www.dot.state.tx.us/tpp/hwy/sl/sl0425.htm Highway Designation File - State Highway Loop 425] ]
*Farm to Market Road 2945 west of Cisco, bypassed 1964 [Texas Department of Transportation, [http://www.dot.state.tx.us/tpp/hwy/fm2500/fm2945.htm Highway Designation File - Farm to Market Road 2945] ]
*State Highway 206, State Highway 6 and State Highway 112 through Cisco and Eastland, part of US 80 until its 1991 truncation [Texas Department of Transportation, [http://www.dot.state.tx.us/tpp/hwy/sh/sh0206.htm Highway Designation File - State Highway 206] ] [Texas Department of Transportation, [http://www.dot.state.tx.us/tpp/hwy/sh/sh0069.htm Highway Designation File - State Highway 69] ]
*Farm to Market Road 3363 through Olden, bypassed 1976 [Texas Department of Transportation, [http://www.dot.state.tx.us/tpp/hwy/fm3000/fm3363.htm Highway Designation File - Farm to Market Road 3363] ]
*Loop 254 through Ranger, part of US 80 until its 1991 truncation [Texas Department of Transportation, [http://www.dot.state.tx.us/tpp/hwy/sl/sl0254.htm - State Highway Loop 254] ]
*Spur 312 and U.S. Highway 180 through Weatherford, part of US 80 until its 1991 truncation [Texas Department of Transportation, [http://www.dot.state.tx.us/tpp/hwy/ss/ss0312.htm - State Highway Spur 312] ]

In Fort Worth, IH 20 breaks off the old US 80 route at Interstate Highway 30's junction with IH 20, which is also IH 30's western terminus. Just east of the junction, IH 30 leaves the pre-1991 [Texas Department of Transportation, [http://www.dot.state.tx.us/tpp/hwy/ss/ss0580.htm - State Highway Spur 580] ] route of US 80, now Spur 580. Old US 80 travels due east on Spur 580 to U.S. Highway 377 (Camp Bowie Boulevard), where it heads northeast to the junction with IH 30. At IH 30, US 377 and former US 80 join the freeway into downtown Fort Worth; the old route - along Camp Bowie Boulevard and Lancaster Avenue - was once Business U.S. Highway 80. [http://www.lonestarroads.com/maps/1967-texaco.html 1967 Texaco map of Texas] ]

Just east of downtown Fort Worth, US 80 split from IH 30 onto present State Highway 180 until 1991. [Texas Department of Transportation, [http://www.dot.state.tx.us/tpp/hwy/sh/sh0180.htm - State Highway 180] ] Approaching downtown Dallas, the older route of US 80 used Fort Worth Avenue and Commerce Street, designated Loop 260 and Business U.S. Highway 80 in 1952. [Texas Department of Transportation, [http://www.dot.state.tx.us/tpp/hwy/sl/sl0260.htm - State Highway Loop 260] ] (US 80 had bypassed that route by 1939, but it was State Highway 1 until 1952. [Texas Department of Transportation, [http://www.dot.state.tx.us/tpp/hwy/sh/sh0001.htm - State Highway 1] ] ) The later US 80 continued east on Davis Street, turning north at Zang Boulevard (Loop 354 until 1991), shifting to a route via SH 180 to Interstate Highway 35E after 1961. [Texas Department of Transportation, [http://www.dot.state.tx.us/tpp/hwy/sl/sl0354.htm - State Highway Loop 354] ] Through and east of downtown, the route before it was rerouted onto present Interstate Highway 30 used Commerce Street, Parry Avenue, Haskell Avenue, Grand Avenue and Samuell Boulevard. [http://www.lonestarroads.com/maps/1954-state.html 1954 TXDOT map] ] (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 US 80 begins at the split from IH 30.

Farm to Market Road 688 is the old alignment through Forney, bypassed in 1959 by the present freeway. Most of this route was a spur of Farm to Market Road 740 until 1960. [Texas Department of Transportation, [http://www.dot.state.tx.us/tpp/hwy/fm0500/fm0740.htm - Farm to Market Road 740] ]

Alabama

The 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches followed US 80 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.

ee also

*Bankhead Highway

Related routes

* U.S. Route 180
* U.S. Route 280
* U.S. Route 380

References

External links

* [http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/us80.htm United States Route 80: The Dixie Overland Highway] - Federal Highway Administration
* [http://www.bygonebyways.com/Highway%2080.htm Highway 80 - The Broadway of America]
* [http://www.oldhighway80.com/ Historic California Highway 80 Corporation]
* [http://www.nps.gov/semo/index.htm Selma to Montgomery National Voting Rights Trail] - a U.S. National Historic Trail

###@@@KEYEND@@@###