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Old 11-20-2011, 10:31 AM   #1
Mrs. CountryGuy
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Stay in Montgomery Alabama ? Birmingham roads UGH

For any snowbirds or travelers that are going to travel I 65 you may or may not be aware of this and it may or may not affect you, so take it for what it is worth.

we stopped for the night south of Montgomery, there are only 5 campsites here right now. The rest are full of old FEMA type trailers that are currently owned by a builder who has his crew staying in them.

we were told there is a lot of construction going on in Montgomery (fully, someone told me that the little town of Birmingham just up the road a spot declared bankruptcy lately??) .

we were also told that all campgrounds in and around Montgomery are full of construction trailers as well.

Congrats to Montgomery, seems you are doing something right. Jobs are terrific!

Oh, and BtW, the roads in Birmingham still are B*A*D!! We went straight thru town on 65, and we had to slow down and put our blinkers on, it nearly tossed us out of the truck. Funny, very little moved in Tana, must be the air pin and the equaflex.

My travel report of November 2011. Safe rides all.
 
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Old 11-20-2011, 11:09 AM   #2
helmick
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Carol
We were there about 3 weeks ago, there was a lot of construction going on because of all the damage from last Mays tornado.
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Old 11-20-2011, 12:03 PM   #3
lfw
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We stayed a few days at Gunter Hill campground.. an Army Corp.. not many people there.. and lots of spaces...It is west of Montgomery a few miles from the airport...
lfw
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Old 11-20-2011, 02:16 PM   #4
wingerphil
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Amen on the roads in B-ham ........ loosens your fillings for sure !!
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Old 11-20-2011, 02:20 PM   #5
Mrs. CountryGuy
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Ron, not all from that, although I am sure that does account for a hunk of all this building. supposedly one of the auto plants is putting in some transformer something or other?? (I probably have that wrong! )

lfw, we are running the Iways and staying as close to them as possible, a trip even 3 miles off the Iways was not happening this run, but, gotta say, that sounds like someplace I would adore!!

BTW, this campground is now FULL, not one site available, 2 rigs came in at 6 PM, took the last 2 sites.
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Old 11-20-2011, 11:29 PM   #6
indy roadrunner
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Carol, we were planning on stopping south of Montgomery on our way down in January. What CG are you talking about? I may have to call ahead for reservations.
I sure wish there was a way around Bham. That road from just north of the mix master to Pelham has always been the roughest stretch we drive on. Even with the TrailAir king pin we still have to slow down to 40 - 45 mph sometimes even slower to the point I consider myself a traffic hazard as cars will pass us going 60 - 70 mph.
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Old 11-21-2011, 12:34 AM   #7
Mrs. CountryGuy
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indy roadrunner,

We are not sure where we are staying right now, but do hear that Gulf Breeze at Gulf Shores is pretty well booked up right now through your time frame.

Our current plans are to be in Gulf Shores for a month, and then move down to Florida, and we don't have any idea where.

We sure fly by the seat of our pants these days, did that 8.5 month western tour without one reservation, although we do call ahead when we finally do figure out where we want to go, so, I guess that is a reservation after all, eh?? If you call ahead more than 5 hours before arrival I guess that is a reservation! LOL

From what I hear if you want to do Gulf Shores for Jan or Feb it is still advisable.

We did the 45 or below the blinkers go on all the way through Birmingham yesterday, first time we have ever done that through a major city. That loop looks very long, but, have to wonder how those roads are???
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Old 11-21-2011, 01:12 AM   #8
indy roadrunner
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We have the reservations for Gulf Shores that is not an issue. We were planning on a overnight stop at Montgomery South at Hope Hull that is a Passport America CG and was wondering if that is the one full of construction workers.
I am going to take a closer look at that Loop around Bham. Extra time and miles may be worth it.
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Old 11-21-2011, 02:56 AM   #9
padredw
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This may be entirely irrelevant for you friends coming from North to South, but for whatever it may be worth: we travel from West to East and vise-verse on I-20 and take the bypass around Birmingham. [I should note that this is I-459 which goes around south of the city.] That is an excellent roadway (though traffic is often heavy--but we have always moved along at full highway speed even in the traffic). Of course, the distance is excellent for east/west travel and may not be desirable for north/south.

BTW, as I have noted here before, one of the worst--if not THE worst--stretches of highway we've ever encountered is just north of the point where the bypass rejoins I-20. The section I'm talking about is NOT on I-20 but on I-59. It is the only time I ever decided to take the next exit regardless of what other route I might find. It worked out fine and we were able to rejoin I-59 several miles north and found it now to be acceptable.
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Old 11-21-2011, 10:22 AM   #10
Mrs. CountryGuy
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indy roadrunner, yes, that is the park we stayed in last night, there were at that time 5 available sites for travelers, and all 5 were taken, we were number 3 in the park, 2 more arrived later.

I asked CountryGuy what the story was that he heard on the construction, he said it was an entire plant being built to build electrical transformers, a company from the Far East, he could not remember which country. Something about they have a huge hunk of the market here in the US and are building the plant to produce the transformers here. So, this one reference to construction had nothing to do with the tornadoes earlier in the year.

Thanks padredw, that is the kind of information that is helpful.
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Old 11-22-2011, 03:58 PM   #11
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Based on our recent October trip through Birmingham I would take the loop, longer in this case surely must be better. Otherwise, I recommend going slow, blikers on, and watch out for construction that narrows down the lanes on I65. Also, with the hills you will want to keep mostly in the right lane.
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Old 11-22-2011, 04:21 PM   #12
Mrs. CountryGuy
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Recumbant, could not agree more, in fact, this is what I wrote on the social network G+ while we were still trying to escape I 65 south on the south side of Birmingham:

"Birmingham, your roads ****, and who left a tuton in the middle of the far right lane that we just missed, only by the grace of God, and a nice car that stood on his brakes and moved over a lane so someone could do some marvelous driving.

ya if you saw a Montatna on 65 with the blinkers on going 40 mph midst Birmingham, that was us.

grrrrrrrrrrr"
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Old 11-22-2011, 11:37 PM   #13
indy roadrunner
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Carol I did a little google mapping on the Bham area. It appears to me that if you take the east loop then it is about 26 miles additional, if you take the west loop then that is about 40 miles. I have never traveled either way so would welcome any input someone might have on the east loop.
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Old 11-23-2011, 06:03 AM   #14
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The Big NEW Hyundai Transformer Plant was dedicated earlier this month. Its a cousin og South Korean Company of Hyundai Autos.
According to the local paper they hope to grow their share of the Industrial/Power Plant size Transformer market to 50% with this US Plant. Apparently Transformer demand is high in the Utility Industry.
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Old 12-04-2011, 04:00 AM   #15
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We'll be traveling down I65 just after the first of the year also. Indy when you where routing the east (loop) are you meaning Route 31 south say from exit 266 on I65 through to exit 252 on I65? Looks like a good fuel stop, wonder about stop lights, and I'm sure time of day will make a big difference!
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Old 12-04-2011, 02:33 PM   #16
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Whine, whine, whine...

I-65 south of Birmingham is a piece-o-cake compared with I-59 between Chattanooga and Birmingham (my oft-traveled route dragging my Monty). When I get home from points west after running I-59 to the Rising Fawn metro area, I always have to visit the dentist to get my teeth tightened back down!

For those needing to go north-south through B'ham, I-65 is the best way. The worst traffic is in and south of Birmingham, but much of the major construction to the south is done or nearing completion and the extra lane helps a LOT! Taking I-459 to the east as a detour still gets you back downtown to get back to I-65, and IMO I-20/59 into Birmingham from the east is one crappy drive, especially anywhere near the rush hours; too many lane-change "opportunities" and crazy commuters. At least if you're on I-65, you can just ride the center lane all the way through and not worry too much about your four-wheeled goodbuddies.

For anyone going east-west through B'ham, the I-459 loop is way better than the direct route through town on I-20/59. Just batten down the hatches once you get back on I-59 northeast and get ready for the beating.
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Old 12-04-2011, 02:58 PM   #17
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Thanks Pat I don't care if I drive slow to make it easy on my equipment. If the four-wheeled goodbuddies get upset I hope they get over it quick (not). But I have hit some BIG potholes and that's not good. SeeYa
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Old 12-05-2011, 11:11 AM   #18
indy roadrunner
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Thanks Pat, guess I will hang with I65, I have never traveled the east loop. Illi Treker will have to advise me. I will be headed that way in a month and half.
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