Downtown Birmingham, Ala., begins 14-month road closures at I-59/20

Drivers who travel on Interstates 59 and 20 through downtown Birmingham, Ala., will need to find a new route. The I-59/20 Bridge Project will shut down portions of highways in the area until the project is completed in 2020.

As the Alabama Department of Transportation enters Phase 3 of its downtown bridge rebuilding project, motorists can expect delays and reroutes. During this phase, ALDOT will include a transition phase to close portions of I-59/20 through downtown Birmingham.

The transition phase has been broken up into three weekends.

The first weekend ran from Jan. 18 to Jan. 21 and included the following:

• Red Mountain Expressway ramp to I-59 SB will close until the new ramp and new bridges are constructed and open to traffic.
• Ramp from I-59 SB to Red Mountain Expressway SB will not be available; however, the Central Business District bridges will still be open. The ramp will re-open Monday, Jan. 21.
• The evening of Jan. 21, the shutdown of the Central Business District bridges begins from the interchange at I-65 to the interchange at Red Mountain Expressway.

The next weekend will run from Jan. 25 to Jan. 28. During this time, Carraway Boulevard will be closed under the I-59/20 Central Business District bridges between Richard Arrington Jr. Boulevard and 11th Avenue North from 9 p.m. Friday to 6 a.m. Monday.

The final weekend will run from Feb. 3 to Feb. 4 and include:

• Feb. 3-4: Carraway Boulevard will be closed in the vicinity of the I-59/20 Central Business District bridges for completion of the demolition of the Red Mountain Expressway ramp to I-59/20 SB. Carraway Boulevard will reopen by 6:00 a.m. on Feb. 4.
• Feb. 4: 25th Street on and off ramps expected to be open to traffic.

After the transition period, all of the detours will be in place while bridges are being replaced. ALDOT encourages motorists to use Interstate 459 to go around the closures. Once all of the closures are in place, the 14-month clock for completion starts ticking. All traffic should be open by mid-2020.

For detour maps, click here.