Roadscapes Wednesday: New AL-275 Bypass

By Nathan Young on December 5, 2012

The new 4-lane bypass going around Talladega, AL is now open. The Talladega Western Bypass is an extension of AL-275. It starts at the intersection of AL-77 at a traffic light. The bypass goes for 5 miles before meeting AL-21. AL-275 ends but the 4-lane continues for another mile before going back to the original 2-lane road. The 4-lane bypass carries a 65 speed limit and has limited traffic for now.

At the AL-275 and AL-77 intersection there were some interesting things. One; the left turn traffic lights are featuring red arrows! Two; this is the first time I have seen the words “signal ahead” painted onto the pavement in Alabama. But I found this situation crazy at this intersection.

Instead of rumble strips painted across the pavement. ALDOT used five strips of reflectors. Some drivers are going into the grass to avoid these strips like this car.

And some drivers are slowing down and treating these rumble strips as speed bumps! This is going to cause an accident real soon. Also one of these reflectors can get loose and fly up into a car. ALDOT needs to rip up these reflectors and redo these rumble strips. In the video below; these rumble strips are very loud!