A major traffic artery in Tuscaloosa will soon be alleviating a lot of congestion near campus. Although a date isn't confirmed, the Alberta city bridge could reopen as early as Friday. 

Mayor Walt Maddox called into the Madison & Shepherd show to talk about that topic on Thursday. According to the mayor, the official opening date is set for November 7, but the city is optimistic that the Department of Transportation could allow use of the bridge as early as Friday, October 22.

There has been a little confusion this week following the Transportation Summit on Monday when ALDOT gave the city the impression that the bridge could reopen on Friday.

Two days later, an ALDOT engineer told the Tuscaloosa News that there's "still a couple of week's worth of work to do" before the bridge is ready.

Once that portion of University Boulevard East reopens, it will allow somewhere between 10,000 to 20,000 vehicles to use the bridge each day. That will help ease much of the traffic along McFarland Boulevard that has been re-routed because of the construction.

It will also be a huge relief for Alabama football game day traffic, which has been detoured to Jack Warner Parkway for the first four home games of the season. With Tennessee coming to town on Saturday and LSU playing in Tuscaloosa on November 7, a usable bridge will be a welcomed improvement to game days.

Keep an eye on Tuscaloosa.com for updates on the bridge as the city will share news when it has some.

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