History
State Route 20 was created when Alabama renumbered State Route 41 with a statewide renumbering in 1929. The original route ran from US-72 at Muscle Shoals to US-31 at Decatur. This portion was named the Joe Wheeler Highway and markers commemorating this are still located on East (Decatur at ailroad/Church Streets) and West (Tuscumbia-Old Lee Highway) ends. In 1931, Highway 20 replaced State Route 2 following US-72 west to the Mississippi state line west of Margerum and in 1936 was extended east to Huntsville.
1957 saw many changes to SR-20. It was replaced again by SR-2 along US-72 to the Mississippi state line, and in turn SR-20 replaced SR-2 running north to Florence and northwest of Florence to the Tennessee state line (State Route 69), forming a route popularly known as New Savannah Highway. Highway 20 was also re-aligned to a much more direct route between Decatur and Huntsville, bypassing the town of Madison.
Beginning in the early 1980s, the eastern terminus of Highway 20 began retreating to the west. The original terminus was at Clinton Avenue and US-231/US-431 in downtown Huntsville. With the construction of I-565 in the early 1990s along the route of Highway 20 east of I-65, Highway 20 was slowly pulled back to its current terminus at the junction of I-65 and becomes I-565.
Read more about this topic: Alabama State Route 20
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