TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (WIAT) – As University of Alabama students clear out for the summer, construction begins around the campus, leaving part of University Boulevard closed.
“It’s strictly infrastructure improvements,” said Matthew Skinner, the Interim Senior Associate Vice President for campus development at UA. “Storm, sewer, we’re moving some large concrete barriers that cause issues. Also, some technology enhancements for security.”
Crews have already started work on University Boulevard heading toward the Strip past the Quad and on Hackberry Lane leaving campus towards 15th Street. On top of the road work, the university says there are more than a dozen ongoing building projects as well, to include the construction of a Student Well-Being Hub where the Alice Kidd buildings once stood.
“Consistently, we have approached it as minimizing the impact to student experience as well as trying to find the most cost-effective way to accomplish projects in general,” Skinner said.
“We’re about $690 million dollars that we have overall in construction. About 100 of that is going to be completed over the summer,” he added.
People living in Tuscaloosa for the summer have mixed reactions about saving all of the construction to be done then.
“There’s definitely things we can improve on on campus, so it’s nice to see that we’re getting those improvements,” said Marybeck Weaver. “Campus is definitely slowed down over the summer, so it’s a good time for it to happen.”
“Everybody’s out of school so it’s like the ones who didn’t go home, we’re still here and of course the people who already live here,” Tiffany Calhoun said. “It can add on 30 minutes, 45 minutes, just to get 10 minutes down the road. It’s a hassle, but you find a way around it.”
Paul Andreasen has lived in Tuscaloosa since 2017. He agrees the summer roadwork can make things more difficult, especially as he navigates the city as a DoorDasher.
“Sometimes it’s better, sometimes not so much,” he said.
The university hopes to have many of these projects completed before students return in August. You can look at all of the ongoing projects at the University of Alabama here.
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