| US 84 | |
| Get started | Isney |
| End | Gordon |
| Length | 232 mi |
| Length | 373 km |
According to transporthint, US 84 is a US Highway in the US state of Alabama. The road forms an east-west route in the south of the state, passing through the quiet countryside. The largest town on the route is Dothan. The road is 373 kilometers long.
Travel directions
US 84 in western Alabama.
Western Alabama
US 84 is a somewhat secondary route through rural southern Alabama. The only larger town on the route is Dothan. US 84 in Mississippi comes from Laurel and crosses the state line between Mississippi and Alabama in a sparsely populated area. US 84 is a single-lane road and leads east through sparsely populated areas. There follows a 150-kilometer stretch to I-65 with US 84 only opening up a few small places. Two larger rivers are crossed here, the Tombigbee River at Coffeeville and the Alabama River west of Monroeville. The road is single-lane almost everywhere, except for a few miles of 2×2 at Grove Hill, which also connects to US 43. Near Evergreen the connection to theInterstate 65, nearly 150 miles northeast of Mobile.
Eastern Alabama
US 84 at Dothan.
On the eastern part of the route are some more regional towns such as Andalusia, Opp and Enterprise, as well as the larger city of Dothan. At Evergreen the US 84 has a double numbering with the US 31 and at Andalusia the US 29 is crossed. Around Andalusia the road has 5 lanes with a center turn lane and between Andalusia and Opp the US 84 is a 2×2 divided highway. US 84 runs past South Alabama Regional Airport and has a ring road around Opp, which coincides with US 331.
The US 84 then makes an arc from Opp to Enterprise and has largely 2×2 lanes. Enterprise has a full ring road, with US 84 passing through the northeast section. There is a lot of retail on the ring road. The 40 kilometer stretch from Enterprise to Dothan also has 2×2 lanes. The city of Dothan also has a complete ring road, over which US 231 and US 431 also run. US 84 follows the north ring road, which has 2×2 lanes and is a corridor of retail and business.
East of Dothan, US 84 is also a 2×2 divided highway and leads through an alternation of forest and meadows for another 30 kilometers east to the Chattahoochee River at Gordon. The river forms the border with Georgia, after which US 84 in Georgia continues to Bainbridge and Thomasville.
History
According to travelationary, US 84 was one of the original US Highways of 1926 and at the time ran from Dothan to Brunswick, Georgia. With this, only a 30-kilometer stretch of US 84 ran through the state of Alabama. By 1934, the route had been extended westward through southern Alabama, but the bridge over the Tombigbee River at Coffeeville was still missing, causing US 84 to detour through Jackson and Chatom. It was unclear to what extent US 84 ran as far as Mississippi at the time, all maps up to 1950 ended at Chatom, although maps from Mississippi already indicated US 84.
Western Alabama
At the level of detail, the US 84 was different at the time than it is today. The arch bridge over the Tombigbee River at Coffeeville did not open until 1958 and replaced a ferry service, from then on US 84 went directly west from Grove Hill, rather than south on US 43. Another change was that US 84 originally made a detour through downtown Monroeville, which was also rerouted in the 1950s.
Eastern Alabama
US 84 has never been replaced by an Interstate Highway. I-10 is way too far south to be an alternative. Because there are quite a few regional towns in southeastern Alabama, of which Dothan is the most important, US 84 has been widened to four lanes in this area. There are also bypasses built around Dothan, Enterprise and Opp. The section between Andalusia and the Georgia border has been completely widened to 4 lanes, the rest of US 84 is single-lane in Alabama.
The upgrade of US 84 to a 2×2 divided highway began in the second half of the 1960s when the western approach road from Dothan was widened to 2×2 lanes. However, this was the only double-lane part for a long time. It was not until the early 1990s that the entire route from Enterprise to Dothan was widened to 2×2 lanes. The widening between Dothan and the Georgia border was completed around 1997-1998. The section between Andalusia and Opp was widened to 2×2 lanes around 2006-2007, partly with minor realignments. The Opp ring road was completed around 2001. Around 2003-2004 the route from Opp to Elba was widened to 2×2 lanes. Supposedly in 2006 or 2007, the New Brockton diversion opened with 2×2 lanes. The remaining section between New Brockton and Enterprise was widened to 2×2 lanes around 2013-2014. In May 2019, the last section of the Elba bypass opened. Subsequently, the existing bypass of Elba was widened to 2×2 lanes, which was completed in January 2021.
Dothan
A complete ring road has been constructed in Dothan. This ring road, also known as the Ross Clark Circle, was built in the late 1950s. This was given the number State Route 210, but is double-numbered on all segments with other US Highways, the US 84, US 231 and US 431. The ring road was originally not signposted with the number 210, only later this number appeared on the signage. The Dothan ring road is directly constructed as a 2×2 divided highway, with a maximum speed of 50 mph. The ring road is now highly developed with retail and industry, giving it an urban character.
Traffic intensities
1,900 vehicles drive daily near the Mississippi border, after which the intensities fluctuate further eastwards between 1,500 and 4,000 vehicles, with somewhat higher intensities around Grove Hill and Monroeville, up to approximately 6,000 vehicles. Between Evergreen and Andalusia, 2,300 vehicles run, increasing to 5,000 to 7,000 vehicles between Andalusia and Opp and 2,000 to 4,500 vehicles between Opp and Enterprise, increasing to 19,000 vehicles in Enterprise. Between Enterprise and Dothan, 13,000 to 19,000 vehicles and 42,000 vehicles passed through western Dothan, the busiest point on US 84. From Dothan to the Georgia border, intensities drop from 9,000 to 4,500 vehicles.
