St. Louis to Central FL

Mickeyfan0805 wrote:

RoaminRichards wrote:
I just returned from St. Louis to Central Florida last summer. I took I-55 south to Memphis,( I-269 is a loop around Memphis that is an easy drive to I-22) picked up I-22 to Tupelo, MS then turned south on US 45 to Meridian, MS then east on US 80 to Montgomery, AL then south on US 231 to I-10. I avoided Birmingham, AL as there is all kinds of road construction around that area and it is slow going with traffic delays plus rough road.This is a good choice with less traffic. Atlanta is a nightmare to get through due to traffic and construction. I live out side of Orlando so if I can be of additional help let me know.Safe travels and enjoy the trip!

Thanks for the input. I've done the drive through Atlanta multiple times (usually coming from SE WI, and the detour is more significant from there).

I'm curious, though, about your decision to avoid Birmingham. Google suggests that your side-route adds about 45 minutes to the trip - that seems like a lot to add on just to avoid a city of 200,000 people. With limited travel time, is it really worth such a substantial detour to avoid Birmingham?

Short answer...Yes. Though the city itself is ~200,000, Jefferson County is ~650,000 and the metro area is around a million or so. Birmingham has several major interstates coming together there, and it's both major north/south route as well as east/west. And also a major trucking hub for the southeast US. Hence significantly heavy traffic.

In the past, I drove between St. Louis and Tuscaloosa AL. I would take I-55 south to I-155 at Hayti, MO and head east to Dyersburg, TN. Then took US 412 south to Jackson, TN and there pick up US 45 south all the way to Columbus, MS, where I'd pick up US 82 east to Tuscaloosa. From there you can continue on US 82 to Montgomery and then follow any of the prior suggestions.

For me, this route was deceptively easy. The small cities such as Dyersburg, Jackson, and Tupelo were easy to get around, far easier than going through Memphis or Birmingham. Both of those are metro areas of around 1 million people and traffic can be horrible around both. The route is also good 4 lane for practically the entire length and is a rather direct route from St Louis to head southeast.

When the road through Birmingham is described as "rough" that's an understatement. It's bone jarring unacceptably rough. Make sure everything is secured before you travel that way and know you can take an alternate route on your return.

When I travel I don't have a limited time schedule as I am retired. I can understand if you need to be at a certain place with time restrictions. You can opt to stay on I-65 and go through Birmingham but there is road construction at several interchanges and you may or may not encounter a delay. The road is rough in places and the rush hour traffic can be as bad as Atlanta at times.I can tell you that I-22 from Birmingham to Memphis is very good with minimal traffic.There is a new connector ramp off of I-65 onto I-22 that makes a smooth transition. There are truck stops along the way if you need fuel, food, rest, etc. I just like to travel the US highways when possible just to see America. Safe travels and enjoy the ride!

RoaminRichards wrote:
I just returned from St. Louis to Central Florida last summer. I took I-55 south to Memphis,( I-269 is a loop around Memphis that is an easy drive to I-22) picked up I-22 to Tupelo, MS then turned south on US 45 to Meridian, MS then east on US 80 to Montgomery, AL then south on US 231 to I-10. I avoided Birmingham, AL as there is all kinds of road construction around that area and it is slow going with traffic delays plus rough road.This is a good choice with less traffic. Atlanta is a nightmare to get through due to traffic and construction. I live out side of Orlando so if I can be of additional help let me know.Safe travels and enjoy the trip!

Thanks for the input. I've done the drive through Atlanta multiple times (usually coming from SE WI, and the detour is more significant from there).

I'm curious, though, about your decision to avoid Birmingham. Google suggests that your side-route adds about 45 minutes to the trip - that seems like a lot to add on just to avoid a city of 200,000 people. With limited travel time, is it really worth such a substantial detour to avoid Birmingham?

I had a stop to make on the way to Meridian, MS. Yes, US 82 is also a good road as I have been on it too. Also US 84 is mostly four lane going from Georgia across to
Evergreen, AL. We try to stay off of Interstates when we can as there is less traffic on the US Highways plus we want to see something besides miles of concrete. I am originally from the St. Louis Metro area but I live here in Central Florida as permanent resident. Been here 21 years now.

RoaminRichards wrote:
I just returned from St. Louis to Central Florida last summer. I took I-55 south to Memphis,( I-269 is a loop around Memphis that is an easy drive to I-22) picked up I-22 to Tupelo, MS then turned south on US 45 to Meridian, MS then east on US 80 to Montgomery, AL then south on US 231 to I-10. I avoided Birmingham, AL as there is all kinds of road construction around that area and it is slow going with traffic delays plus rough road.This is a good choice with less traffic. Atlanta is a nightmare to get through due to traffic and construction. I live out side of Orlando so if I can be of additional help let me know.Safe travels and enjoy the trip!

I looked over your route and wondered why you didn't take US-82 as it crosses US-45 west of Columbus, MS instead of following US-45 to Meridian to get to US-80? It looks like that would be a little shorter. I'm south of Miami right now and need to head back the end of March.

I agree I-65 on the south side of Birmingham is very rough. It was like that 4 years ago the last time we used it and couldn't believe they hadn't done a thing to fix it as it was really bad back then.

I just returned from St. Louis to Central Florida last summer. I took I-55 south to Memphis,( I-269 is a loop around Memphis that is an easy drive to I-22) picked up I-22 to Tupelo, MS then turned south on US 45 to Meridian, MS then east on US 80 to Montgomery, AL then south on US 231 to I-10. I avoided Birmingham, AL as there is all kinds of road construction around that area and it is slow going with traffic delays plus rough road.This is a good choice with less traffic. Atlanta is a nightmare to get through due to traffic and construction. I live out side of Orlando so if I can be of additional help let me know.Safe travels and enjoy the trip!

DFord wrote:
The last several times we've made that trip (we're south of Miami right now) we've taken the route south to Memphis on I-55 to I-40/I-240 and then got off on US-78 toward Birmingham. US-78 turns into I-22 straight to Birmingham and I-65 to Montgomery. On the south side of Montgomery, take US-80 a short distance to US-231 south around Dothan and continue on US-231 toward I-10. (231 is all good 4 land divided highway except when you're going through a couple small towns) You can save a few miles by cutting off US-231 onto AL-73 and following it to get to I-10 or you can stay on US-231 till it meets up with I-10. Take I-10 east to I-75 south. That'll take you to the east side of Tampa. An option would be taking the Florida Turnpike to Orlando. There are no toll booths. If you don't have a transponder, they take a picture of your license plate and send you a bill for the toll plus a service charge.

You can get the Florida SunPass to avoid the service charge or I'd recommend the E-Pass good in 18 states. Same toll rates.

https://epass.cfxway.com/EpassWeb/Account/AccountFlow?accountFlow=GetEPASS

https://www.sunpass.com/en/home/index.shtml

Think you meant the EPass XTRA is good in 18 states. The EPass is only good in 3-4 states.

The last several times we've made that trip (we're south of Miami right now) we've taken the route south to Memphis on I-55 to I-40/I-240 and then got off on US-78 toward Birmingham. US-78 turns into I-22 straight to Birmingham and I-65 to Montgomery. On the south side of Montgomery, take US-80 a short distance to US-231 south around Dothan and continue on US-231 toward I-10. (231 is all good 4 land divided highway except when you're going through a couple small towns) You can save a few miles by cutting off US-231 onto AL-73 and following it to get to I-10 or you can stay on US-231 till it meets up with I-10. Take I-10 east to I-75 south. That'll take you to the east side of Tampa. An option would be taking the Florida Turnpike to Orlando. There are no toll booths. If you don't have a transponder, they take a picture of your license plate and send you a bill for the toll plus a service charge.

You can get the Florida SunPass to avoid the service charge or I'd recommend the E-Pass good in 18 states. Same toll rates.

https://epass.cfxway.com/EpassWeb/Account/AccountFlow?accountFlow=GetEPASS

https://www.sunpass.com/en/home/index.shtml

We did this trip last fall, and opted to bypass the Atlanta/Chattanooga route. We took I-64 from St. Louis and got onto I-57 at Mt. Vernon, IL. At Marion, IL, we got on I-24 and took it all the way to Nashville, TN. We hit I-65 at Nashville down to Montgomery, AL. From Montgomery we took US highway 231 down to I-10 in the Florida panhandle. Then across I-10 to connect with I-75 at Lake City, and down south to central Florida. Highway 231 is a 4 lane divided highway, but is not controlled access like interstates. It was a nice ride all the way down.