As the summer of 2003 heats up, construction designed to widen the interstate corridor connecting Tuscaloosa and points west (Meridian, New Orleans, Jackson) with Birmingham and points east (Atlanta, Chattanooga, Montgomery) is nearing completion.
For a short time, on both the southeast- and northwest-bound sides of the new concrete barriers, two sets of complete two-lane roads existed, for 8 lanes in all. Only two lanes were in use on either side at a time, however. Attempting to widen the roadway and erect barriers to stop crossover collisions while still allowing traffic to flow between the Druid City and Magic City made for a drawn-out, sometimes odd program of paving, repaving, restriping and closing lanes. |
