U.S. Route 98: Difference between revisions

 

===Alabama===

In Alabama, US 98 is paired with unsigned '''State Route 42''' ('''SR 42'''). The route enters Alabama from the east near [[Lillian, Alabama|Lillian]] in rural [[Baldwin County, Alabama|Baldwin County]]. At [[Daphne, Alabama|Daphne]], US 98 begins a concurrency with [[U.S. Route 90 in Alabama|US 90]]. US 90 and 98 junction [[Interstate 10 in Alabama|I-10]] at Daphne on the [[Eastern Shore (Alabama)|eastern shore]] of [[Mobile Bay]], then again on the western side of the bay as they enter downtown [[Mobile, Alabama|Mobile]]. As the two routes approach the Mobile River, US 98 is split into two routes, with a [[U.S. Route 98 Truck (Mobile, Alabama)|US 98 Truck]] route crossing the Mobile River via the [[Cochrane–Africatown USA Bridge]], co-signed with US 90. Passenger car traffic passes directly into town under the Mobile River via the [[Bankhead Tunnel]]. Once the truck route rejoins the main route in downtown Mobile, US 98 assumes a northwestward trajectory, and enters [[Mississippi]] near the community of [[Wilmer, Alabama|Wilmer]] in western [[Mobile County, Alabama|Mobile County]]. US 98 is the southern terminus of two major U.S. highways: [[U.S. Route 31 in Alabama|US 31]], at [[Spanish Fort, Alabama|Spanish Fort]], and [[U.S. Route 45 in Alabama|US 45]] in Mobile.

The safety of the route, or the lack thereof, has earned the road the nickname "Bloody 98". A plan to remediate the problem has not been adopted, and is hampered by the financial damage imposed to road repairs by higher vehicle fuel efficiency (as gas taxes largely go to road repair) and the diversion of roadway funds to other projects like greenways and public transportation{{Citation needed|date=July 2019}}. Also, [[environmentalists]] have gone to court on numerous occasions to block proposals to turn the stretch of US 98 from the Alabama–Mississippi line to the town of [[Semmes, Alabama]], into a four-lane, fearing that construction runoff would cause contamination of [[Big Creek Lake]] (where Mobile gets its municipal water supply) and its surrounding wetlands.<ref>[http://www.fox10tv.com/story/27806082/highway-98-accident-history-on-display-post-deaths Highway 98 accident history on display post deaths]</ref><ref>[http://www.bradenton.com/news/local/crime/article34717605.html 'Bloody 98' in Florida named most dangerous roadway]</ref><ref>[http://blog.al.com/live/2012/03/road_to_nowhere_us_98_project.html Road to nowhere: U.S. 98 project in Mobile remains unfinished]</ref>

 

===Florida===