Tuscaloosa Mayor Proposes New Dedicated Turn Lane to Combat Daily Traffic Jams

Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox is asking the city council to consider investing a little less than a million dollars to combat daily traffic jams at a busy intersection in the heart of the city.

Maddox made recommendations on Tuesday for how the city should spend this year's Reserve Fund for Future Improvements, created from funds that were budgeted to be spent last fiscal year but were not, creating a surplus.

Maddox said in Fiscal Year 2024, the city spent about $19 million less than its almost  $200 million General Fund budget, and about $14.6 million of that surplus gets dropped into the RFFI.

The mayor recommends what to do with that money, and the city council votes on whether to agree when their budget season comes ahead of the end of Fiscal Year 2025.

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One of the larger capital projects recommended by the mayor during a Tuesday meeting of the Tuscaloosa City Council's Finance Committee is a new dedicated turn lane for drivers turning east on McFarland Boulevard from Hargrove Road by the Circle K gas station.

"This is the only lane at Hargrove and McFarland that doesn't have a dedicated turn lane - for traffic to move eastbound on Highway 82," Maddox said Tuesday. "For those who travel that, especially in drive-time hours, it backs up traffic all the way to the Meadowbrook Shopping Center, Bama Mall, whatever it is today."

Right now, drivers who are continuing straight on Hargrove Road East are often stopped in the far right lane during red lights. With a turn lane, drivers who need to head east on McFarland toward the interstate could do so without piling up behind motorists who aren't turning.

Maddox said the recommendation may not be as flashy as some of his RFFI and Elevate Tuscaloosa plans from years past, but said the drivers who get stuck at that light every day would appreciate it.

"Not that $900,000 is a small amount, but again, one of the things we're looking at is how can we invest smaller sums of money that create larger, positive impacts for constituents?" Maddox said. "This is a project that will positively impact thousands of motorists a day at that intersection."

For more from Maddox's recommendations and coverage of the budget approval process later this year, stay connected to the Tuscaloosa Thread.