Rebuilding of I-20/59 downtown (Birmingham, Hoover: 2013, construction, closing)

[mcalumni01]

Have anyone heard about what ALDOT wants to do with that part of the interstate from malfunction junction to 31st street.........remove all exits into downtown???????? are they crazy

Thoughts and comments about it

Traffic trouble

[mcalumni01]

Did you know this ramp might go away? | Dear Birmingham .:. Birmingham's hub for opinion | bhamterminal.com

another blog to read about what ALDOT wants to do.....I don't think most people in Birmingham besides those who live in norwood, druid hills, fountain heights don't really know what they trying to do to I-20/59 and the communities north of the interstate in downtown

[sleepless in Bham]

As it is right now its too dangerous because of the weaving pattern of traffic, and the bridges are in bad shape. People have to remember section in question was built in the 1970's and was not designed to handle to current amount of traffic (160K cars a day). Replacing the bridges and other upgrades to address the current and hopfully future traffic needs is what is most important here.

[mcalumni01]

no doubt about it the section has to be rebuilt to accommodate the heavy traffic today and for everybody to feel safe driving on it...should have been did years ago, but closing the exits to and outta downtown on I-20/59 is beyond crazy. when the original plan came about it was just replacing the decks, nothing about closing the exits....now all of a sudden aldot wants to close every exit in downtown for what? and making 11th ave the primary road to get to and outta downtown, come on. that's way to much traffic on the road to have to deal with. even if they are proposed to making it 3 lane highway both ways. when you have events happen in downtown, now everybody who wants to go north, west, or east gotta use 11th ave, let's be for real, that's a bad idea. I hope the city of Birmingham has the final say in this, hopefully, and our local government officials can see that this can't happen

[sleepless in Bham]

Originally Posted by mcalumni01

no doubt about it the section has to be rebuilt to accommodate the heavy traffic today and for everybody to feel safe driving on it...should have been did years ago, but closing the exits to and outta downtown on I-20/59 is beyond crazy. when the original plan came about it was just replacing the decks, nothing about closing the exits....now all of a sudden aldot wants to close every exit in downtown for what? and making 11th ave the primary road to get to and outta downtown, come on. that's way to much traffic on the road to have to deal with. even if they are proposed to making it 3 lane highway both ways. when you have events happen in downtown, now everybody who wants to go north, west, or east gotta use 11th ave, let's be for real, that's a bad idea. I hope the city of Birmingham has the final say in this, hopefully, and our local government officials can see that this can't happen

First off, the city of Birmingham will NOT have the final say on this.

Second, anybody with a lick of sense of direction knows there are mulitple ways to get in and out of downtown. Even with the current plan ALDOT has, nobody will be cutoff from getting in and out of downtown.

Third, nothing stays the same forever. The whole point of this project is to move traffic through downtown, safely as possible. I think we sometimes we forget that the purpose of the interstate system is the move people and goods from point A to point B as safe and quickly as possible, not having 50 exits and entrances in the span of a mile.

[harry chickpea]

There is never a "good" answer to upgrading systems that have gone beyond capacity without foresight. The concept of planned city expansion has been around for a couple centuries at least - Paris, Washington D.C., etc. The expediencies of the present often take precedence, and then historic roadblocks set idiocy into stone, like in Boston. The mountains and mines and requirements of the railroads around B'ham made for even more problems than most cities have.

The pie in the sky solution might be a ten lane tunnel starting at the I-20/59 junction extending past Hoover on the South, Gardendale on the north, and Bessemer on the west. It ain't goinna happen.

[cpg35223]

Originally Posted by harry chickpea

The pie in the sky solution might be a ten lane tunnel starting at the I-20/59 junction extending past Hoover on the South, Gardendale on the north, and Bessemer on the west. It ain't goinna happen.

Why not? All you have to do is link all the mine shafts together.

[sleepless in Bham]

When it comes to road planning and construction, somebody isnt gonna be happy. Never fails.

Dont get me wrong these are valid concerns that I would assume ALDOT will address, but it shouldnt stop a project that needs to be done.

[raj kapoor]

Originally Posted by sleepless in Bham

First off, the city of Birmingham will NOT have the final say on this.

Second, anybody with a lick of sense of direction knows there are mulitple ways to get in and out of downtown. Even with the current plan ALDOT has, nobody will be cutoff from getting in and out of downtown.

Third, nothing stays the same forever. The whole point of this project is to move traffic through downtown, safely as possible. I think we sometimes we forget that the purpose of the interstate system is the move people and goods from point A to point B as safe and quickly as possible, not having 50 exits and entrances in the span of a mile.

I agree with you. "Does anyone remember the term "LIMITED ACCESS HIGHWAY". Yes, that is the national discription of the Interstate Highway System.

Carraway Blvd is an excellent downtown exit point as is the one east of there. (31st Street I believe?)

Being an elevated highway, unfortunately, it leaves most of the surface streets from the northside free for easy and traffic free access into downtown.

I think this sounds a bit like CHICKEN LITTLE.........

GOOD DAY
raj

[mcalumni01]

Originally Posted by sleepless in Bham

First off, the city of Birmingham will NOT have the final say on this.

Second, anybody with a lick of sense of direction knows there are mulitple ways to get in and out of downtown. Even with the current plan ALDOT has, nobody will be cutoff from getting in and out of downtown.

Third, nothing stays the same forever. The whole point of this project is to move traffic through downtown, safely as possible. I think we sometimes we forget that the purpose of the interstate system is the move people and goods from point A to point B as safe and quickly as possible, not having 50 exits and entrances in the span of a mile.

everybody around this metro knows different ways to get in and out of downtown, but does people who visit the city knows how to get into downtown being on 20/59 coming east or west and know what exit to get off, majority would not. so you telling me not having some exits on 20/59 and just letting people pass through and having to go another mile or two just to exit off just to get back to downtown on a local street is better...whatever. yea people know that everybody isn't gonna be happy with whatever happens, but at the same time aldot needs to come to a equal solution about it with the citizens of druid hills, fountain heights, norwood, central city to make them feel good about the rebuilding of the interstate. it's not like traffic ain't flowing outta downtown to begin with. this entire project ain't about keeping the flow of traffic through downtown, the whole project was about "REPLACING THE DECKS" cause they are old and needs replacing, THAT'S IT. now it has move to closing exits and for what. traffic is flowing anyway. traffic gone always be what it is at certain times of the day, nothing you can do about that. so now closing exits so people can not have a way to get off the interstate during rush hour or during a accident. so what it's a accident between that stretch of interstate, there's no exit to divert traffic off. YOU NEED EXITS OFF ANY MAJOR INTERSTATE in any downtown city...