Memorial Parkway (Huntsville)

Memorial Parkway

Memorial Parkway at Governors Drive
Length	18.3 mi (29.5 km)
Location	Huntsville, Alabama
North end	Bob Wade Lane (continues as US 231/431)
Major junctions	US 72 East / Sparkman Drive US 72 West / University Drive Interstate 565 Alabama 53 / Governors Drive US 431 / Governors Drive
South end	Tennessee River (continues as US 231)

Memorial Parkway, also known as The Parkway, is a major thoroughfare in Huntsville, Alabama that carries over 100,000 vehicles on average a day. It, in whole or in part, follows U.S. Route 231, U.S. Route 431, U.S. Route 72, and State Route 53 through the Huntsville city limits. It is a limited access road through most of Huntsville city proper, providing exits to the frontage road which allow access to road intersections, as well as businesses and residences along the route. Both the limited access and frontage roads are referred to as Memorial Parkway. Originally constructed in the 1950s and officially opened on December 1, 1955, the highway is the major commercial thoroughfare through Huntsville, a status it has held since the mid-1960s.

The limited access portions of the Parkway contain eight lanes of traffic; in each direction there are two lanes of limited-access traffic, paralleled by a two-lane, one-way frontage road. At major intersections, the four limited-access lanes overpass the intersecting road with a "camel back" type overpass, while the frontage roads have a signal-controlled intersection with the intersecting road. At each overpass, there is a pair of turn lanes that permit traffic on the frontage roads to make U-turns between the northbound and southbound frontage roads without having to go through the signalized intersection. Generally, in between overpasses, there exists a pair of entrance and exit ramps that allow traffic to transition between the limited-access lanes and the parallel frontage road. Other than at intersections with overpasses, traffic on the frontage road always has the right of way vs. intersecting streets and driveways and there are no other traffic signals. The frontage roads do not exist between the University Drive and Clinton Avenue overpasses; here through traffic must merge into the limited-access lanes.

There are two intersections where the Parkway crosses under the intersecting road, at Martin Road and Interstate 565. Currently the frontage roads end at Martin Road because a non-limited access portion still exists between it and the Whitesburg Drive overpass. Plans for construction under way call for the frontage roads to be raised up to Martin Road's grade and have signalled intersections; it will work like the overpasses except for the over/under relationship being reversed. At the I-565 interchange, it is possible for Parkway traffic to make a U-turn by executing a sequence of ramp lane changes, although no signage indicates this.