The Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) recently awarded a $167 million contract to replace Tuscaloosa’s Woolsey Finnell Bridge and make major improvements to US-82, also known as McFarland Boulevard.
[Above image by ALDOT]
The agency said that this project – which received a $100 million earmark in the federal fiscal year 2023 omnibus spending bill – will replace the Woolsey Finnell Bridge over the Black Warrior River and the bridge over Campus Drive while widening McFarland Boulevard to provide additional travel lanes. A dedicated shared-use path across the Black Warrior River will also provide a new connection for pedestrians and bicyclists, ALDOT added.
The improvements are designed to enhance mobility, safety, and accommodate continued growth along one of the City of Tuscaloosa’s busiest transportation corridors, the which carries approximately 50,000 vehicles per day, the agency said.
“For too long, folks crossing the Black Warrior River in Tuscaloosa have experienced their own ‘rammer jammer’ rush hour traffic while trying to negotiate the aging four lane Woolsey Finnell Bridge,” said Governor Kay Ivey (R) in a statement. “Today, we set in motion plans to construct a modern six through-traffic lane bridge with accommodations for pedestrian and bicycle traffic.”
ALDOT said construction on this bridge replacement project is expected to begin in early 2027 and take up to four years to complete.
This is the latest in a series of major infrastructure projects either undertaken or completed by ALDOT in recent months.
In September, the Alabama Toll Road, Bridge, and Tunnel Authority completed the bond and federal loan financing necessary to begin Phase One construction of the $3.2 billion Mobile River Bridge and Bayway Project – clearing one of the final major milestones before full construction could begin.
ALDOT noted that Phase One of this project – celebrated with a groundbreaking ceremony that included Gov. Ivey; Sean Duffy, secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation; Sean McMaster, administrator of the Federal Highway Administration; and others – will entail constructing a new six-lane cable-stayed bridge across the Mobile River, adding six lanes of capacity across the existing Bayway, building roadway connections to the new Mobile River Bridge, and making improvements throughout the I-10 corridor in Mobile and Baldwin counties.
Also in September, the agency opened the first segment of the new Birmingham Northern Beltline, known as SR-959, between SR-79 and SR-75 in northeast Jefferson County, with the Beltline ultimately spanning from I-459 in Bessemer to I-59 in northeast Jefferson County.
“This is a monumental step forward for a dream birthed over 40 years ago to create a new connection between southwest and northeast Jefferson County,” said DeJarvis Leonard, engineer for ALDOT’s East Central Region. “ALDOT is excited about this milestone and is diligently working to ensure construction begins on the remaining legs of this transformative project in a timely manner.”
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