Alabama State Route 79

State Route 79
Route information
Maintained by ALDOT
Length:	117 mi (188 km)
Major junctions
South end:	I‑20 / I‑59 at Birmingham
	US 231 at Cleveland US 278 west of Snead US 431 at Guntersville SR 69 at Guntersville US 72 at Scottsboro
North end:	SR 16
Location
Counties:	Jefferson, Blount, Marshall, Jackson
Highway system
Alabama State Routes Interstate US State ← US 78 US 80 →

State Route 79 is a 117-mile-long (188 km) route that extends northeastward from Birmingham to the Tennessee state line. Prior to the completion of Interstate 65, SR-79 was the southern part of the route that connected Birmingham and Huntsville.

The southern terminus of SR-79 is at the interchange of Tallapoosa Street with Interstate 20/Interstate 59 (Exit 128) near Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport. Prior to the completion of I-20/I-59, the terminus of SR-79 was at its junction with U.S. Highway 31, U.S. Highway 78 and U.S. Highway 280 at the intersection of 8th Avenue North and 24th Street in downtown Birmingham.

Route description

The highway is four-laned from Interstate 20/59 to a gap in Sand Mountain, where it passes under two Alabama Power transmission lines, one coming from the Miller Steam Plant. After leaving Tarrant, there is little retail development along Highway 79 in Jefferson County.

After leaving Birmingham and Jefferson County, the route of SR-79 takes it through rural areas of Blount County, Marshall County and Jackson County and is largely a two-lane highway. Due to population growth in the area, there are long range plans to widen SR-79 to four lanes into southwestern Blount County. Aside from Birmingham, the only cities with a population exceeding 5,000 that SR-79 passes through are Guntersville and Scottsboro.

North of Scottsboro, SR-79 leads toward Winchester, Tennessee. North of the Tennessee state line, the route is numbered State Route 16.

Major intersections

County	Location	mi	km	Destinations	Notes
Jefferson	Birmingham	0.000	0.000	40th Street North
		0.099	0.159	I‑20 / I‑59 – Tuscaloosa, Gadsden, Atlanta	I-20 / I-59 exit 128
	Tarrant			Pine Hill Road - Ketona, Fultondale
	Pinson	12.296	19.788	SR 151 north / CR 131 west (Narrows Road) to SR 75 – Oneonta
Blount	Cleveland	34.395	55.353	SR 160 – Nectar, Hayden, Cleveland
		35.948	57.853	US 231 south (SR-53) – Montgomery, Oneonta	South end of US-231 / SR-53 overlap
	​	37.766	60.778	US 231 north (SR-53) – Blountsville, Arab	North end of US-231 / SR-53 overlap
	Brooksville	48.862	78.636	US 278 (SR-74) – Cullman, Gadsden
Marshall	Guntersville	64.279	103.447	US 431 south (SR-1) – Albertville, Gadsden	South end of US-431 / SR-1 overlap
		65.359	105.185	SR 69 south – Cullman, Arab
		65.727	105.777	SR 227 north – Lake Guntersville State Park, Bucks Pocket State Park
	​	71.651	115.311	US 431 north (SR-1) – Huntsville	North end of US-431 / SR-1 overlap
Jackson	Scottsboro	88.671	142.702	SR 279 north – Scottsboro
		90.430	145.533	US 72 – Huntsville, Scottsboro
		95.303	153.375	SR 35 – Woodville, Scottsboro
	​	107.353	172.768	SR 146 west / CR 107 south
	​	117.605	189.267	SR 16 north – Winchester	Continuation into Tennessee
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus