U.S. Route 84 in Alabama

U.S. Route 84 (US 84) in Alabama travels west to east across southern Alabama for 237.400 miles (382.058 km). US 84 enters the state from Mississippi west of Silas and exits into Georgia southeast of Gordon. Along its route, US 84 passes through the limits of the towns and cities of Silas, Coffeeville, Grove Hill, Repton, Evergreen, River Falls, Andalusia, Sanford, Babbie, Opp, Elba, New Brockton, Enterprise, Level Plains, Daleville, Dothan, Cowarts, Avon, Ashford.

Between Mississippi and River Falls, with the exception of a small segment near Grove Hill, US 84 is largely a rural two-lane road. Between River Falls and Georgia, the route is a major four-lane divided highway connecting major towns of southeastern Alabama. For most of its route through Alabama, excluding a section in Dothan where it is alternatively known as East and West Main Street, US 84 is internally designated by the state of Alabama as State Route 12 (SR 12).

US 84, as well as unsigned SR 12, enters Alabama in south-central Choctaw County, near the small, unincorporated community of Isney. After curving through mostly forested land, meeting with several county roads along the way, it comes to its first intersection of note, that being its intersection with SR 17 in Silas. It then continues through more forested land and crosses the Tombigbee River into Clarke County, after which it immediately enters the city of Coffeeville, where it encounters an intersection with SR 69. The two highways travel concurrently through downtown Coffeeville, after which SR 69 splits off and heads south.

US 84 continues eastward through Clarke County and reaches Grove Hill, where it encounters its first major intersection, a diamond interchange with the north-south traveling U.S. Route 43 (US 43). After exiting Grove Hill, US 84 passes through more unincorporated communities as it eventually crosses the Alabama River into Monroe County. 10 miles later, US 84 passes just to the south of Monroeville, where State Routes 41 and 47 (SR 41/47) join it in a three-route concurrency. This concurrency continues until it reaches the town of Repton in Conecuh County, where SR 41 splits off to the south towards Brewton and Escambia County.

US 84 continues eastward through Conecuh County and eventually encounters a small strip of commercial development at its diamond interchange with Interstate 65 (I-65) at exit 93. No sooner has it left the development area than US 84 merges in a concurrency with U.S. Route 31 (US 31). The two highways travel through downtown Evergreen, and US 31 splits off to the north not long after. US 84 then enters Covington County and near-immediately enters into a concurrency with State Route 55 (SR 55) as it enters Andalusia. Here, SR 55 splits off alongside the southbound lanes of U.S. Route 29 (US 29), while northbound US 29 joins US 84 as a northern bypass of downtown Andalusia. Not long after, US 29 splits off to the north, and US 84 continues through unincorporated communities within Covington County before it enters Opp, where it enters into yet another concurrency, this one with U.S. Route 331 (US 331). The two highways create a southern bypass of downtown Opp before US 331 splits off to the north.

Not long after, US 84 enters Coffee County and soon reaches Elba, where it joins two concurrencies, one with State Route 203 (SR 203) and State Route 189 (SR 189), both of which break off while in downtown Elba, and another with State Route 87 (SR 87). After it leaves Elba, SR 87 splits off to the north and US 84 continues through mostly unincorporated areas in Coffee County before reaching Enterprise, where it travels along the city's northern perimeter. It soon leaves Enterprise and Coffee County and makes a brief excursion of 1.119 miles (1.801 km) through Daleville in Dale County before entering Houston County.

Upon entering Houston County, US 84 encounters intersections with three state routes (State Routes 92, 123 and 605) before encountering its last city in Alabama, Dothan. Here, US 84 is a major artery as it forms part of the Ross Clark Circle, a major circular parkway that encompasses two state routes (State Routes 52 and 210) and three major U.S. Routes (US 84, U.S. Route 231 (US 231) and U.S. Route 431 (US 431)). Upon leaving Dothan, US 84 encounters one more stretch of forested land and unincorporated communities before crossing the Chattahoochee River and continuing into Georgia.

When U.S. Route 84 was initially designated in 1926, its western terminus was located in Dothan. In 1934, the route was extended west, overlapping US 43 southward from Grove Hill to end at Chatom, quite a distance south of its present route. By around 1950, this gap had been removed. While US 84's western terminus was extended further westward into Mississippi in 1935 and eventually Texas by the next year, there remained a gap in US 84 between Chatom and Waynesboro, Mississippi. By 1950, this gap had been removed and the highway become continuous. It is unknown when US 84 was moved to its current route through Coffeeville.^[2]