Slaughter alley

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Sections of highway locally known for a high fatal accident rate are often known as "Slaughter Alley". Other names that may be used are "Blood Alley" or "Massacre Mountain". Many sections of roads have been known as "Slaughter Alley" and local residents may disagree on where "Slaughter Alley" actually is or was. Many famous "Slaughter Alleys" no longer exist as they have been replaced by new, safer sections of road.

1 History
2 Famous former "Slaughter Alleys"
3 Other meanings
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] History

The United States began upgrading major highways to modern freeways in the 1950s. The freeways were much safer than the old highways. This is because the opposing lanes were separated by barriers or wide medians and grade-level crossings were eliminated by overpasses and underpasses. The significantly lower fatal accident rate on the freeways caused the busy older highways to become notorious as areas with high accident rates. In many regions, the most dangerous sections of these old highways became known as "Slaughter Alley" to the local residents. Over the subsequent decades many of these dangerous roads were bypassed or upgraded to freeway status.

[edit] Famous former "Slaughter Alleys"

Slaughter Alley: U.S. Route 101 south of San Clemente, California (near the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station). Bypassed by Interstate 5.

Slaughter Alley: U.S. Route 101 in Cloverdale, California. Bypassed in the mid 1990s.

Massacre Mountain: Old U.S. Highway 25E between Middlesboro, Kentucky and Cumberland Gap, Tennessee. Now a hiking and nature trail, replaced by the Cumberland Gap Tunnel.

Blood Alley: U.S. Highway 99 near San Jose, California. Last section upgraded to freeway status in the mid 1990s.

Blood Alley: Route 21 in Jefferson County, Missouri, also referred to as "Missouri's Most Dangerous Highway". The majority has been rerouted to a new freeway, with the southern part near Hillsboro, Missouri currently under construction.

[edit] Other meanings

Roads called "Slaughter Alley" for reasons other than high fatal accident rates include:

Florida State Road 29, because of a high number of Florida Panthers killed there.
The road from Kuwait to Basra (better-known as "Highway of Death") where the retreating Iraqi army was destroyed in the 1991 Gulf War by American aircraft.