HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — A nearly $34 million part of the Restore Our Roads initiative, construction crews are working on building an overpass at Mastin Lake Rd. and making improvements for 1.7 miles, all the way to Winchester Rd. However, residents nearby said the traffic delays and coming lane closures are causing a necessary headache.
"It does take me about a good five to ten minutes with traffic," said commuter Laura Moore about leaving her home to get to the store. "Normally, it takes only a couple of minutes. I just come down the street."
Road improvements along North Memorial Parkway are bringing new projects aimed at alleviating traffic, including an overpass, improvements to road access and additional lanes for Memorial Parkway. Moore said along that stretch of road is Alabama A&M University, a major hub causing more traffic back-ups in addition to other daily commuters.
Moore said, "When they have their games, you've got tailgaters. It most definitely gets backed up." And according to Moore, that traffic back-up can go as far as Meridianville.
Another commuter, Rod Goodlow, said he finds other ways to avoid traffic.
"It depends on the time of day," Goodlow said. "Sometimes it gets pretty congested, but it's usually in the afternoons and in the morning."
He added, "Sometimes you can take the back roads, like right here where they're working on Bob Wade [Lane]. Sometimes I look at my GPS and see what areas are congested, and I adjust my route accordingly."
But ultimately, Goodlow said drivers will have to deal with the traffic and exercise caution until the roadways improve.
"The roads need to be worked on, so we can't ask for the roads to be worked on and then get mad when they work on the roads," he said. "Sometimes, you've just got to do what you've got to do."
The next step of the project is to build an overpass at Mastin Lake Rd., which will start after traffic on Memorial Parkway is diverted for the project on Nov. 20. The rest of the construction should take a little under two years to finish.