Moving to Birmingham, but still have to commute to Florence (Athens: home, to live)

[stewabl]

Hi, I am moving to Birmingham and I'm super excited. It's where I really want to live. My company is allowing me to work from home (which is the only reason why I'm able to finally move) but I still have to report into the office 2 times a week in Florence. I was just curious if other people make this commute, or a similiar commute to this like to say Atlanta? If so, how is it?

[bosshawk]

Birmingham to Florence will be about 2 hours but can greatly vary depending on what part of town you are in. If you are talking about Pelham it will be considerably longer than north of town. It is interstate about half the way and 4 lane the other half.

[harry chickpea]

Yuck. Not a commute I would want to take regularly. B'ham to ATL is much easier.

[newbamadoc]

I would say the average commute here in Bham is around 30 minutes. Do that 2 times/day five days a week, the average commuter is in the care 5 hours per week. You doing 2 hours 2x/ day twice a week will obvioulsy result in 8 hours a week. Not that big of a difference. Many 280 drivers have 1 hour plus commutes resulting in 10+ hours spent in the car a week. Just another way to look at it.

[Southlander]

The trip would take closer to 3 hours. You can hit I-65 to Cullman, but then you have to head off NW on Alabama 69, which is a 4-lane road a good bit of the way but is not restricted access like an interstate.
Maybe once everybody gets comfortable, you can cut it to once a week.
Why not just move to Florence?

[jakabedy]

Can you pick your two days? Meaning, can you be in Florence on two adjacent days and just spend the night up there once a week?

[armstwa]

I'm originally from Florence and now live in downtown Birmingham. It takes about two hours for me to get from downtown Birmingham to North Florence where my parents live. Often times if traffic is not bad, I can do it in less. I stick around 70-80 mph on the interstate and really not much lower than that on 157.

I usually take I-65 and get off at 157 in Cullman (Exit 310). You can also take I-65 up to Athens and get off at Hwy 72 but it takes a little bit longer and the speed limit on that road is 45 if it is raining.

Going 157 got better when they expanded it to mostly four lanes and opened up the Patton Island bridge which can greatly shorten the trip depending on where you are going in Florence.

If you have any more questions, feel free to message me.

[bamaguy]

We are in Bham and have family in NW AL and make the trip often. . not too bad. I agree with the earlier post about the best way to go I65N, x310 (157) thru Cullman/Moultan and Florence.. . .2 hrs is about right.

[sedriskell]

It would be about 3 to 3.5 hours. Twice a week, I don't think it would be THAT bad. It's actually kinda scenic. What you could try to do is take various different routes. Maybe see a few sights in between; make it interesting Maybe try and drive through Bankhead National Forest a few times.

[harry chickpea]

The OP is now in the Nashville area. Note the posting date of the first post.