Interesting mile marker numbers along US 84/US 43 bypasses of Grove Hill, AL

[codyg1985]

As I was driving back from New Orleans I took a detour to pick up some counties, and I drove through Grove Hill, AL, the county seat of Clarke County. I noticed that the mile markers along the bypass sections of US 84 and US 43 have the form MM 5xx, where xx is just the regular mile posts. So, for example, it would go from MM 46 along US 84 going east to MM 547 along the improved four-lane portion.

I am guessing this was done because farther up the road the mile posts have not been reset, and to avoid having to do that, the old alignment and the remainder of the route east (and north for US 43) has the original mile posts while the bypass gets the shiny MM 5xx mileposts.

[Grzrd]

As I was driving back from New Orleans I took a detour to pick up some counties, and I drove through Grove Hill, AL, the county seat of Clarke County. I noticed that the mile markers along the bypass sections of US 84 and US 43 have the form MM 5xx, where xx is just the regular mile posts. So, for example, it would go from MM 46 along US 84 going east to MM 547 along the improved four-lane portion.

I am guessing this was done because farther up the road the mile posts have not been reset, and to avoid having to do that, the old alignment and the remainder of the route east (and north for US 43) has the original mile posts while the bypass gets the shiny MM 5xx mileposts.

Below info from 14th Amendment Highway study discusses possibility of "new terrain" US 84 from Grove Hill to Evergreen.  I doubt it is related to your observation, but the mile markers allow for flexibility regarding future routing.

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/section_1927/14th_amendment_highway/control_points/technical_memo.cfm

"Within Alabama, Montgomery is the control point, and sub-control points are Grove Hill, Tuskegee and Opelika ...

As noted above, the preferred option to connect Meridian, Mississippi to Montgomery, Alabama is the I-85 Extension. A second option that could connect Meridian with Montgomery was explored. This option would utilize US 80 between Meridian and Montgomery; however, members of the EWG noted that a portion of US 80, between Selma and Montgomery, has a historical designation as the Voting Rights Trail. Because of this, it was determined that US 80 between Meridian and Montgomery would not be a viable option for the 14th Amendment corridor.

Grove Hill has been designated as another sub-control point. Continuing east from Laurel, Mississippi, the corridor could utilize US 84 to Grove Hill, Alabama. From Grove Hill, the corridor could continue to utilize US 84 to Evergreen, Alabama and Interstate 65 (I-65), or a new roadway could be constructed that would connect Grove Hill with I-65 near Greenville, Alabama. US 84 from the state line to I-65 is mostly a two lane facility and would require upgrading in order for it to serve as the 14th Amendment Highway corridor."