Getting out of Tuscaloosa has become a nightmare

Probius

Hall of Fame
Mar 19, 2004
6,773
2,175
287
43
Birmingham, Alabama
I mentioned this briefly in another thread, but I want to go into details. Here is how my Saturday night went after the Bama game against A&M.

6:15 - Game ends and I start to look for a way to get out of the stadium. I waited for everyone to fill past because I hate to jump into a group of people.

7:15 - I arrive at my car in the parking lot next to the soccer fields. The lot is packed and nobody is moving. I sit in my parking space for the next 30 minutes.

8:15 - I finally make it on to McFarland Blvd. only to see nothing but cars for miles in front of me. I wind up sitting in traffic on McFarland Blvd. for 1 hour.

9:15 - I turn onto I-59/I-20 toward Birmingham. Traffic moves about 25-30 mph until the interstate turns to three lanes. After that traffic picked up to a normal pace.

10:15 - I walk into the house and fall onto the couch only to fall asleep minutes later.

I understand that 102,000 fans went to the game and traffic will not be as normal, but something has got to give. We have added nearly 20,000 seats over the last six years but the infrastructure has not kept pace. Extending the third lane on I-20/I-59 all the way to Tuscaloosa would help a lot. Making both lanes on McFarland Blvd. move away from campus for a few hours after the game would help. But, something has got to be done to build up the infrastructure in order to get people out of Tuscaloosa and back home in a reasonable amount of time.

Rant over.
 

irNate

1st Team
Nov 19, 2010
554
38
52
Snellville, GA
I mentioned this briefly in another thread, but I want to go into details. Here is how my Saturday night went after the Bama game against A&M.

6:15 - Game ends and I start to look for a way to get out of the stadium. I waited for everyone to fill past because I hate to jump into a group of people.

7:15 - I arrive at my car in the parking lot next to the soccer fields. The lot is packed and nobody is moving. I sit in my parking space for the next 30 minutes.

8:15 - I finally make it on to McFarland Blvd. only to see nothing but cars for miles in front of me. I wind up sitting in traffic on McFarland Blvd. for 1 hour.

9:15 - I turn onto I-59/I-20 toward Birmingham. Traffic moves about 25-30 mph until the interstate turns to three lanes. After that traffic picked up to a normal pace.

10:15 - I walk into the house and fall onto the couch only to fall asleep minutes later.

I understand that 102,000 fans went to the game and traffic will not be as normal, but something has got to give. We have added nearly 20,000 seats over the last six years but the infrastructure has not kept pace. Extending the third lane on I-20/I-59 all the way to Tuscaloosa would help a lot. Making both lanes on McFarland Blvd. move away from campus for a few hours after the game would help. But, something has got to be done to build up the infrastructure in order to get people out of Tuscaloosa and back home in a reasonable amount of time.

Rant over.
Like others said in the other post... there are at least 10-15,000 people that would love to take your place and deal with it, and enjoy every second of it..
 

BamaGoose

Suspended
Dec 7, 1999
3,998
0
0
Meridianville, Al.
I mentioned this briefly in another thread, but I want to go into details. Here is how my Saturday night went after the Bama game against A&M.

6:15 - Game ends and I start to look for a way to get out of the stadium. I waited for everyone to fill past because I hate to jump into a group of people.

7:15 - I arrive at my car in the parking lot next to the soccer fields. The lot is packed and nobody is moving. I sit in my parking space for the next 30 minutes.

8:15 - I finally make it on to McFarland Blvd. only to see nothing but cars for miles in front of me. I wind up sitting in traffic on McFarland Blvd. for 1 hour.

9:15 - I turn onto I-59/I-20 toward Birmingham. Traffic moves about 25-30 mph until the interstate turns to three lanes. After that traffic picked up to a normal pace.

10:15 - I walk into the house and fall onto the couch only to fall asleep minutes later.

I understand that 102,000 fans went to the game and traffic will not be as normal, but something has got to give. We have added nearly 20,000 seats over the last six years but the infrastructure has not kept pace. Extending the third lane on I-20/I-59 all the way to Tuscaloosa would help a lot. Making both lanes on McFarland Blvd. move away from campus for a few hours after the game would help. But, something has got to be done to build up the infrastructure in order to get people out of Tuscaloosa and back home in a reasonable amount of time.

Rant over.

Quick trip to Minnesota. ;) Next time fly...
 
Last edited:

Jref

1st Team
Oct 3, 2001
551
0
0
Tuscaloosa, AL
One suggestion: Park downtown & ride the bus to the stadium. You can then get on I-359 to get to I-20/59 fairly easily after the game.

Also, I-20/59will be three-laned to Tuscaloosa next year, if all goes well.
 

kayakerjess

All-American
Sep 9, 2005
2,011
2
62
48
Colorado
I mentioned this briefly in another thread, but I want to go into details. Here is how my Saturday night went after the Bama game against A&M.

6:15 - Game ends and I start to look for a way to get out of the stadium. I waited for everyone to fill past because I hate to jump into a group of people.

7:15 - I arrive at my car in the parking lot next to the soccer fields. The lot is packed and nobody is moving. I sit in my parking space for the next 30 minutes.

8:15 - I finally make it on to McFarland Blvd. only to see nothing but cars for miles in front of me. I wind up sitting in traffic on McFarland Blvd. for 1 hour.

9:15 - I turn onto I-59/I-20 toward Birmingham. Traffic moves about 25-30 mph until the interstate turns to three lanes. After that traffic picked up to a normal pace.

10:15 - I walk into the house and fall onto the couch only to fall asleep minutes later.

I understand that 102,000 fans went to the game and traffic will not be as normal, but something has got to give. We have added nearly 20,000 seats over the last six years but the infrastructure has not kept pace. Extending the third lane on I-20/I-59 all the way to Tuscaloosa would help a lot. Making both lanes on McFarland Blvd. move away from campus for a few hours after the game would help. But, something has got to be done to build up the infrastructure in order to get people out of Tuscaloosa and back home in a reasonable amount of time.

Rant over.
Have you tried any of the University's "Game Day Routes" from the UA GameDay site [here]? First, stay off McFarland at all costs for post-game. I would try heading toward downtown and getting on I-359. That will probably save you an hour. You could also head out east on HWY 215 or 216 toward Cottondale (several ways to get there), which connects with I-59 about 4-5 miles outside of Tuscaloosa.
 

lincoln_osiris

1st Team
Feb 11, 2009
713
0
0
One suggestion: Park downtown & ride the bus to the stadium. You can then get on I-359 to get to I-20/59 fairly easily after the game.

Also, I-20/59will be three-laned to Tuscaloosa next year, if all goes well.
Shhhhh...don't tell everybody about downtown.
 

Dr. Van Nostran

All-SEC
Jan 27, 2006
1,093
0
0
54
3 miles from Bryant Denny Stadium.
I mentioned this briefly in another thread, but I want to go into details. Here is how my Saturday night went after the Bama game against A&M.

6:15 - Game ends and I start to look for a way to get out of the stadium. I waited for everyone to fill past because I hate to jump into a group of people.

7:15 - I arrive at my car in the parking lot next to the soccer fields. The lot is packed and nobody is moving. I sit in my parking space for the next 30 minutes.

8:15 - I finally make it on to McFarland Blvd. only to see nothing but cars for miles in front of me. I wind up sitting in traffic on McFarland Blvd. for 1 hour.

9:15 - I turn onto I-59/I-20 toward Birmingham. Traffic moves about 25-30 mph until the interstate turns to three lanes. After that traffic picked up to a normal pace.

10:15 - I walk into the house and fall onto the couch only to fall asleep minutes later.

I understand that 102,000 fans went to the game and traffic will not be as normal, but something has got to give. We have added nearly 20,000 seats over the last six years but the infrastructure has not kept pace. Extending the third lane on I-20/I-59 all the way to Tuscaloosa would help a lot. Making both lanes on McFarland Blvd. move away from campus for a few hours after the game would help. But, something has got to be done to build up the infrastructure in order to get people out of Tuscaloosa and back home in a reasonable amount of time.

Rant over.
Don't do that.
 

BamaMoon

Hall of Fame
Apr 1, 2004
20,932
15,933
282
Boone, NC
It's a legit discussion. The problem is the bottle neck at I-59. Opening McFarland one way would only add to that.
The 3rd lane into and out of T-town from B'ham is the first big step!

FWIW, you know going in on a Saturday that when 130K or more are arriving on campus in a 3-5 hour span (many the day before) and they'll be leaving in a 1 hour span that it will make for a slow commute. But, I agree some steps need to be taken if possible.
 

RTR91

Super Moderator
Nov 23, 2007
39,407
6
0
Prattville
This is why attendance suffers ....

I said before that if you come from out of town, you're likely heading north on 20/59. It's a nightmare.
Yep. Not many ways out of Tuscaloosa.

I would have gone up University until you get to Cottondale and then get onto 20/59.
 

saraelizabethua

1st Team
Feb 3, 2008
664
0
0
Oxford, Mississippi
By my junior year we were still struggling with traffic trying to leave the game and get somewhere to eat in town... But my senior year my friends and I had a breakthrough. After every game BUT Mississippi State (and probably less so, Ole Miss) You can get into Northport wayyy easier than anywhere else. We'd always change out of our MDB uniforms and go to Jimmy Johns.

Does that help your problem? No. But the message is that if you're creative, you won't end up stuck on McFarland with everyone else. Most out-of-towners come from Birmingham or south Alabama, except for the MSU game which entices people from the other direction as well.

There's no shame in traveling 10 extra miles to cut two hours of time off of your driving.
 

Probius

Hall of Fame
Mar 19, 2004
6,773
2,175
287
43
Birmingham, Alabama
Because the original poster is saying he is not going to attend this week's game because of the traffic.
I said in another thread that I am not going to the game this weekend. That, however, is not because of the traffic, but rather, because a game against Western Carolina is worthless.
 

Latest threads

TideFans.shop : 2024 Madness!

TideFans.shop - Get YOUR Bama Gear HERE!”></a>
<br />

<!--/ END TideFans.shop & item link \-->
<p style= Purchases made through our TideFans.shop and Amazon.com links may result in a commission being paid to TideFans.