Improvements to Greensboro Avenue between Fourth Street and Jack Warner Parkway have forced the closure of the street until mid-January.
Jeremy D. Jones, civil engineer for the city of Tuscaloosa’s Department of Infrastructure and Public Services, said the closure was needed to ensure the work could be completed within the project’s budget.
It’s expected to remain closed to traffic until Jan. 17, and, after that, the contractor will likely need to close it again between Fourth Street and University Boulevard, Jones said.
“During all closures, local access will be maintained to all businesses and residences within the project,” Jones said.
No timeline for this second closure was given.
“Initially, we had made it a project requirement that the contractor would not be allowed to close Greensboro Avenue and that pedestrian traffic would be required to be maintained during construction,” Jones said. “This condition was previously a part of the project when bids were opened in March of 2017.
“Those bids were subsequently rejected due to the bid amount exceeding the funding that was budgeted.”
The work is meant to create a pedestrian walkway and reduce the amount of vehicular lanes in this area, as well as new decorative lighting and about $250,000 in water and sewer upgrades, city officials have said.
The decision to allow the road closure’s came prior to the City Council’s awarding of a $2.16 million construction contract to Cornerstone Civil Contractors LLC in October.
Work on the roadway began in November and is expected to last until March 2018.
“When we opened bids in March (2017), if the project had been awarded, the construction would have taken place during the height of the concert season,” Jones said. “With the bid opening in October, however, we anticipated construction to take place after the last home football game and prior to the large scale amphitheater events.
“The timing of the bid opening therefore lessened the impacts of the road closure.”
Reach Jason Morton at jason.morton@tuscaloosanews.com or 205-722-0200.