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Council awards $244,760 engineering contract for Julia Tutwiler Drive, Campus Drive improvements
Summary
The council approved a professional services contract with Duncan Coker for design work on Julia Tutwiler Drive and Campus Drive to maintain school access after an ALDOT US‑82 project alters existing ramps and roundabout connections.
The governing body approved a $244,760 professional engineering services contract with Duncan Coker to design improvements to Julia Tutwiler Drive and Campus Drive near McFarland Boulevard. The design work, staff said, is intended to preserve access to the Tuscaloosa magnet schools after the Alabama Department of Transportation’s US‑82 project shifts an interchange and eliminates direct access between Julia Tutwiler Drive and McFarland Boulevard.
Staff described a project area adjacent to the magnet schools where the state project will move an exit to the north and create a conflict with a teardrop-shaped roundabout used for school traffic. “The objective here is to maintain access to Julia Tutwiler Drive and adjacent properties from US‑82 and McFarland Boulevard,” a presenter said, and staff showed plan graphics that the council received during the meeting.
The proposed city scope includes relocating or restoring the roundabout configuration that serves school drop-off and pick-up, creating a bus-only access route from the roundabout onto school property, and improving travel lanes on the magnet school campus to reduce queuing onto city streets. Staff said the design phase is expected to take about one year and that the concept has been coordinated with ALDOT, although final approvals from ALDOT will be required for work in state right of way. “We've had some coordination with ALDOT as well. So they've seen our concept,” the presenter said. The presenter also said ALDOT’s most critical concern is how the city connects to the state-provided exit.
Council members asked whether the city’s design is subject to ALDOT approval; staff said ALDOT controls the limits of state work and the city will pick up the city‑side work and then seek ALDOT concurrence. The council voted to approve the contract at the meeting.
Background: staff said the area is roughly 2.5 miles east of City Hall and immediately adjacent to the Tuscaloosa magnet schools; graphics shown at the meeting depict McFarland Boulevard, the ramp to Julia Tutwiler Drive, and the roundabout on school property. Funding for the design was described in the presentation as coming from a city account referenced in the meeting as “g f r f f I” (as stated by staff).
