End of US highway 431
View a map showing this route.
Photo credits: H.B. Elkins; Brent Ivy; Bruce Kasprzyk; J.P. Nasiatka; Alex Nitzman
| Approx. time period | North terminus | South terminus |
|---|---|---|
| 1954-1997(?) | Owensboro, KY | Dothan, AL (downtown) |
| 1997(?)-present | Owensboro, KY | Dothan, AL (south) |
US 431 wasn't commissioned until 1954. Apparently its endpoints have been in the same cities ever since, although the Dothan terminus was different before Ross Clark Circle was built (the bypass around that city). You can view a photo from the historic endpoint on this page.
Today US 431 comes in on the Headland Highway and then follows the Circle around to the south side of Dothan. Below we're on southbound US 431, heading west at the intersection with US 231:
Nasiatka, Sep. 2003
The sign assembly in the distance at lower right is shown close-up below:
Nasiatka, Sep. 2003
No "End" sign, but that's the end of the route. That intersection now marks the south end of Business 431 as well. Below we're heading the opposite direction (east) on the Circle, or southbound on US 231:
Nitzman,
Sep. 2006
US 231 goes right (south) from here, while US 431 begins ahead on the Circle. If you continue ahead on 431, you'll see its first confirmation marker...
Nasiatka, Sep. 2003
...although that assembly (and many others) have been changed recently, with the addition of AL 210 signage (that's the designation for the entire Circle):
Ivy/Nitzman, Sep. 2008
Below we're looking south on Business 231/Business 431:
Nitzman,
Sep. 2006
Northbound US 431 begins to the left, heading east on the Circle. Below we're looking the opposite direction (north on US 231):
Ivy/Nitzman,
Sep. 2008
Off in the distance at far right, you can see a couple assemblies on the ground. The first is a sign for people who relate to towns more than to highway numbers:
Nasiatka, Sep. 2003
Kind of interesting, because they chose one control city along each of the four US routes one can follow from here: Ozark is north on 231; Enterprise is west on 84; Ashford is east on 84; and Headland is north on 431. However, no towns either direction on AL hwy. 52 are mentioned. In the distance behind that, you can just make out the assembly located at the junction itself - that's shown close-up below:
Nasiatka, Sep. 2003
That's also been upgraded with an AL 210 sign:
Ivy/Nitzman,
Sep. 2008
The north end of US 431 is in Owensboro KY. The route approaches Owensboro from the south on Frederica Street, but as of 2010 the designation ends at the Wendel Ford Bypass (US 60). The photo below (heading north on Frederica) was taken before this change, back when the Bypass was signed as "Bypass US 60", and mainline US 60 still ran through downtown Owensboro...
Google Maps Street View, 2008
...but it probably won't be long before those signs are changed: the "Bypass" tabs should be removed, and hopefully an "End US 431" sign will be posted here as well.
US 431 used to continue ahead about three miles, to its junction with the original US 60 downtown. There, US 60 split into the one-way pair of 2nd Street (westbound) and 4th Street (eastbound). The photo below was looking north on Frederica where US 431 ended at westbound US 60 (2nd):
Elkins, 2000 (still there as of Dec. 2010)
Eastbound US 60 (4th) is two blocks behind the camera. The shot below was looking west on 2nd at Frederica, back when US 431 began to the left:
Elkins, 2000 (still there as of Dec. 2010)
If you take that turn, in two blocks you'd junction with eastbound US 60 at 4th St. That was once the location of the first US 431 confirming sign, but by 2008 that had been removed. So the sign a half-block beyond that intersection became the first southbound marker:
Google Maps Street View, 2008
Approaching that intersection from the west would represent the north beginning of US 431 for traffic on eastbound US 60...
Kasprzyk, Dec. 2010
...although technically, yes, US 431 also continued to the left (for another two blocks). These downtown signs may not be around much longer, because no US route traffic is directed through the central part of town anymore. US 431 now begins about three miles to the right (south). The shot below was taken from westbound US 60:
Google Maps Street View, 2008
If you exit there, a left turn will put you on the north beginning of US 431.