End of US highway 431 |
US 431 was commissioned in 1954 -- a relative latecomer to the US route system. Its endpoints have been in the same cities ever since, although in both cases the exact locations of the termini have changed.
The north end of US 431 is in Owensboro; the route approaches town from the south on Frederica Street. In 2010 the designation was truncated such that it ends at the Wendel Ford Bypass (US 60). This interactive image is looking north on Frederica: |
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Formerly the Wendell Ford Expressway was signed as "Bypass US 60", and mainline US 60 still ran through downtown Owensboro. When that was the case (and of course before the Expressway was built), US 431 continued ahead about three miles, to its junction with the original US 60 downtown:
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Approaching that intersection from the west represented the north beginning of US 431 for traffic on eastbound US 60...
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...although technically, yes, US 431 also continued to the left (for another two blocks). No US route traffic is directed through the central part of town anymore; US 431 now begins about three miles to the right (south).
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The Dothan terminus, too, was in a different location until Ross Clark Circle was built (the bypass around that city). Photos and more info can be found on the Dothan page. Today US 431 comes in on the Headland Highway and then follows the Circle around to the south side of Dothan. Here, we are on southbound US 431, heading west at the intersection with US 231:
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US 231 goes right (south) from there, while US 431 begins ahead on the Circle. Drivers continuing ahead on US 431 will see its first confirming marker; many assemblies in this area changed when AL 210 signage was added (that is ALDoT's designation for the entire Circle):
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That includes one control city for each of the four US routes one can follow from there: 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 is visible the assembly located at the junction itself:
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Research and/or photo credits: H.B. Elkins; Brent Ivy; Bruce Kasprzyk; J.P. Nasiatka; Alex Nitzman; Dale Sanderson; Michael Summa; Collin Sweeney
Page originally created 1999;
last updated July 2, 2020.
last updated July 2, 2020.