Alabama State Route 35

State Route 35
Route information
Maintained by ALDOT
Length:	68.291 mi[1] (109.904 km)
Existed:	1940 – present
Major junctions
South end:	SR 9 northeast of Cedar Bluff
	SR 68 at Gaylesville SR 273 at Blanche SR 176 southeast of Fort Payne US 11 / SR 7 at Fort Payne I‑59 at Fort Payne SR 75 at Rainsville SR 71 at Section SR 40 south of Scottsboro US 72 / SR 2 / SR 279 at Scottsboro SR 79 northwest of Scottsboro
North end:	US 72 / SR 2 near Woodville
Highway system
Alabama State Routes Interstate US State ← SR 34 SR 36 →

State Route 35 is a 68.291-mile-long (109.904 km) state route in the northeastern part of the state. The southern terminus of the route is at its junction with State Route 9 in rural Cherokee County northeast of Cedar Bluff and near the Alabama-Georgia state line. The northern terminus of the route is at Woodville in Jackson County where the route has its second junction with U.S. Highway 72.

Route description

North of its origin, State Route 35 begins an ascent over Lookout Mountain as a two-lane road. The route heads in a northwestwardly direction as it passes through the Little River Canyon National Preserve along the county line dividing Cherokee County and DeKalb County leading into Fort Payne. As the highway descends Lookout Mountain within the Fort Payne city limits, it makes a 90-degree right turn at the foot of the mountain. Numerous trucks descending this route have suffered brake failure and wrecked at this turn as a result, causing numerous fatalities. One resident living at this turn, a Joe Faulkner, erected a reinforced concrete wall to protect his property. The wall assumed the popular name, "Joe's Truck Stop."^[2]

B.B. Comer Bridge (1930) carrying the southbound lanes of Alabama SR-35 over the Tennessee River at Scottsboro

From Fort Payne, State Route 35 is routed along a four-lane divided highway as it leads towards Rainsville. The highway is a four-lane highway from its intersection with U.S. Route 11 in Fort Payne to its intersection with U.S. Route 72 in Scottsboro, except for a brief stretch from near its intersection with State Route 71 in Section, to the foot of Sand Mountain and the east bank of the Tennessee River, where it intersects State Route 40. The Alabama Department of Transportation plans to eventually four-lane this remaining section of the Fort Payne-Scottsboro route.^[3] The highway crosses the Tennessee River over the B.B. Comer Bridge (southbound) and the Bob Jones Bridge (northound). A new bridge is under construction to replace the B.B. Comer Bridge, and is expected to open in 2012, but finally opened May 2016.^[4] In the early 1990s, a section of the highway was rerouted from a dogleg extending from Fort Payne through Pine Ridge to Rainsville along the natural slope of Sand Mountain, to the current four-lane route.^[5] The current route reaches the brow of Sand Mountain along a ramp through a manmade gap in the side of the mountain.

Until 1980, the northern terminus of State Route 35 was at Scottsboro, where it intersected U.S. Route 72. It was extended westward along the former alignment of US-72 after the U.S. Highway was relocated to a new four-lane highway between Scottsboro and Huntsville. Although SR-35 travels in south by southwestward trajectory as it leaves Scottsboro, it is signed as “North SR-35” until its terminus at a second intersection with US-72 at Woodville in western Jackson County.

Major intersections

County	Location	mi[1]	km	Destinations	Notes
Cherokee	Lawrence	0.000	0.000	SR 9 – Rome, GA, Cedar Bluff, Centre, Piedmont
	Gaylesville	2.576	4.146	SR 68 – Cedar Bluff, Summerville
	Blanche	11.205	18.033	SR 273 south / CR 15 north
DeKalb		14.324	23.052	SR 176 west (Little River Canyon Parkway)
	Fort Payne	21.983	35.378	US 11 north (Gault Avenue / SR-7) to I‑59 north	South end of US-11/SR-7 overlap
		23.038	37.076	US 11 south (Gault Avenue / SR-7) – Attalla	North end of US-11/SR-7 overlap
		24.164	38.888	I‑59 – Gadsden, Chattanooga	I-59 exit 218
	Rainsville	31.743	51.085	SR 75 (McCurdy Avenue)
Jackson	Section	41.616	66.974	SR 71 north – Trenton
		46.211	74.369	SR 40 east
	Scottsboro	49.539	79.725	US 72 / SR 279 south (SR-2) – Huntsville, Chattanooga	Interchange; south end of SR-279 overlap
		50.490	81.256	SR 279 north (Willow Street) / CR 21 north (Tupelo Pike)	North end of SR-279 overlap
		55.008	88.527	SR 79 – Guntersville, Skyline
	Woodville	68.291	109.904	US 72 (SR-2)
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus

References

1. Milepost Maps (PDF) (Map) (1999 ed.). Alabama Department of Transportation. Retrieved September 1, 2012.
2. "Truck Hits Joe's Truck Stop," The Gadsden Times, January 31, 2006, p. 6A
3. "Scottsboro Mayor Seeks Money to Widen Ala. 35," The Huntsville Times, January 29, 2001, p. B2
4. "Work Begins on Replacing Comer Bridge," The Huntsville Times, October 11, 2007, p. B1
5. "Highway 35 Section to be Widened," The Huntsville Times, July 5, 1996 p. B2

External links

Route map: Bing / Google

• National Park Service: Little River Canyon National Preserve