PRICEVILLE, Ala. — Bottlenecked traffic has been a pain for Morgan County commuters and long-haul drivers who utilize I-65. In particular, a stretch of interstate between Limestone and Morgan County lines has been the site of standstill traffic for the past two weekends as construction on the Tennessee River Bridge led to the narrowing of traffic to a single lane.
"It took me 45 minutes Friday to get from the Falkville exit to the Priceville exit at 7:30 at night," observed Cindy R., who works at the Highway 67 Roadhouse. For Cindy, the drive to work was a job in itself. "Over the last couple weekends it's been really packed, backed up past our exit on down, probably as far as the Hartselle exits," she said.
Priceville Mayor Sam Heflin has noticed the traffic backlog too. "Traffic's a little bit heavier here because [motorists] are getting off here, trying to find their way around other directions to get into Huntsville or to go north," he said.
Heflin said it's been a chance to make lemonade from lemons - more traffic on the roads means more foot traffic for area businesses.
"This is a chance for us to make an impression, a lasting impression," he said. "It can be one of those things where we become the regular stop."
Just ask Cindy and the Highway 67 Roadhouse. They say they've seen more people come through their doors these past weekends.
"There's a lot of people getting off right now because they're caught in that traffic," Cindy said. "They jump off here and they stop at our gas stations, at our restaurants. Some are regulars, some get on the horn and find out what's going on. We have a lot of truck drivers that will park at the truck stops and take an Uber or even walk here and eat."
The good news is that those truckers and all the other frustrated motorists can get those meals to go. FOX54 learned on Monday that crews made substantial progress in those weekend work sessions.
The planned all-day closures scheduled for the next two weekends have thus been called off. Alabama Department of Transportation officials said drivers will see far less daytime congestion from this point on.
There are no plans for any further weekend daytime closures for the project, which is expected to be complete in Spring 2026.