How We Got Here: The Build-Up to the Northern Bypass

The first loop around Alabama’s largest city has been 60 years in the making—and it’s still decades from completion.


Dirt is moving and excitement is growing for Huntsville’s Northern Bypass. A new Food City grocery store and major new developments are slated for the area. The bypass connecting US-231/431 south of Meridianville to Interstate 565 just north of Gate 9 is finally becoming a reality.

For decades, the bypass around downtown was considered Memorial Parkway—because, well, it was. The original north–south route through Huntsville ran along Meridian Street to the north and Whitesburg Drive to the south. In the 1950s, with the Space Race and an influx of federal money, Huntsville began developing its modern road network. To move traffic off the busy streets of downtown, US-231 was built as a four-lane highway along the city’s western edge. But with the rapid growth of the area, US-231 was quickly overtaken by commercial development.


Almost immediately, the Parkway filled with traffic. It also created a barrier for many roads that once flowed freely across the city. For instance, the main route out of downtown suddenly had to stop at the new highway. Clinton Avenue—then the easternmost segment of Alabama 20, which
snakes across North Alabama—met the Parkway at what became the city’s first high-priority intersection. In the early 1960s, it received a standard-style interchange.

City leaders even tried to get Interstate 65 routed north–south through Huntsville, but failed. With interstate fever still in the air, the plan became to modify Memorial Parkway to handle freeway-style traffic.

Could it even work? Enter the “useless overpass.”Locals call it that because it crosses no street—only providing a U-turn. In the late 1960s, city officials ordered construction of a mainline with access roads to beta test the concept. Once completed, it was clear the Parkway could be upgraded to accommodate the new traffic plan. Over the next several decades, more than a dozen interchanges were added along Memorial Parkway.

Cut to the present day, and the Parkway is almost completely lined with development—from the north side near Meridianville to the south side at the Tennessee River. With limited space for expansion, it’s clear that no major improvements can fully fix traffic flow along the controlled-access portion of the Parkway. A new bypass must be built—and here we are.


The official start of the Northern Bypass is somewhat undefined; it’s more of a concept than a single roadway. When complete, the corridor—made up of four connected roads—will form the bypass: Rideout Road, Research Park Boulevard, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, and Bob
Wade Lane.

The bypass begins at Interstate 565 just north of Gate 9, continues north to cross US-72 near MidCity, then zigzags to AL-53 and eventually connects to US-231/431. Construction on the first segment began in the 1960s to help funnel traffic out of Redstone Arsenal—ironically following
the same route city leaders once hoped Interstate 65 would take.

The Northern Bypass is far from finished. ALDOT’s long-term plans call for extending the route east toward the future Eastern Bypass and eventually looping back toward US-231 in southeast Huntsville. For now, construction is focused on connecting AL-53 to US-231/431, with construction underway. City officials see it as a crucial piece of the long-discussed “Huntsville Loop,” the region’s future outer beltway.

The next phase of the development will connect 231/431 to Winchester Road near Moores Mill Road and then to US-72 west of Gurley.

The bypass isn’t just asphalt — it’s a growth engine. North Huntsville is already seeing new subdivisions, shopping centers, and logistics facilities popping up near the corridor. For commuters, it could cut travel times from Hazel Green to Research Park nearly in half. For businesses, it opens access to thousands of acres that were once farmland.

From the “useless overpass” to a future four-lane loop, the Northern Bypass mirrors Huntsville itself—bold, experimental, and never truly finished. As new neighborhoods and highways rise from the red dirt, the story of how we got here becomes the story of where we’re headed.