McWrights-Ferry Road extension a done deal in northern Tuscaloosa Co.

TUSCALOOSA CO., Ala. (WBRC) - It took 40 years to get there but there is a major breakthrough on a significant road extension in northern Tuscaloosa County. Tuscaloosa city officials say the actual dirt-moving work of extending McWrights-Ferry Road begins in earnest in a few weeks.

The deal is worth $65 million and much of it will start here on McWrights-Ferry Road near the Acadian Place neighborhood.

The road extension is in councilman Norm Crow’s district of district three. Councilman Crow says the work will take about two years to complete.

It will include a bridge plus a pedestrian bridge. This project will impact about 2,000 people who live close-by. Most of the ones we talked with say they are generally pleased with what is about to happen which points to the very thing Councilman Crow is predicting once the work is finished.

“This is a project, Bryan, that was looked at for over 40 years. A lot of it is based on traffic congestions. There is a lot of congestion, a lot of growth north of the river that I represent on the council but also there is a public safety aspect to this. If there is an emergency, if there is another outlet over the dam and over the lake and back into town so I think that’s a major part of this, too,” said Crow.

Councilman Crow says the $65 million, every bit of it will be paid through the Tuscaloosa County Road Improvement Commission. The panel started to set aside part of the sales tax three years ago to begin paying for the project over 30 years. The actual dirt work begins next month if not before.

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