New I-59/20 bridges that pass through downtown Birmingham will open to traffic Tuesday, on 1-year anniversary since the road closed for construction.
Alabama Department of Transportation spokesperson Tony Harris said the former infrastructure was carrying twice the amount of traffic they were made to accommodate.
“It should be quieter in the downtown area than [when traffic used] the old steel super-structures, and it should provide for a safer, more modern passage through downtown," he said.
This construction is part of a $750 million project to modernize interstate roads in the area.
Harris said the new lanes “have wider shoulders, and there’s an extra lane through the downtown corridor to carry additional traffic.”
ALDOT hopes the new roads' wider shoulders and extra lane at the downtown “malfunction junction” corridor will help to handle traffic growth in Birmingham.