What you need to know about The World Games road closures

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) - Many of those road closures that we warned you about for weeks are now in effect, and more will follow in the days ahead.

The city has been staging the closures for weeks and crews shut the first handful down over the weekend.

“The perimeter with the largest impact will be downtown. Which includes City Hall, City Walk, BJCC, Protective Stadium, and Jefferson County courthouse is in there, but there are some opportunities for people to gain access,” said Birmingham Communications Director Rick Journey.

There is still public parking available on 22nd Street North, 11th Avenue North, as well as street parking. Still, city leaders hope people ride the line and use the different bus routes to get around.

“We want people to come. We want people to come to the remote parking areas, and ride the line,” said Birmingham Department of Transportation Deputy Director Kelvin Blevins.

If you plan on traveling to the games using a ride share app, pickups and dropoffs will all occur in one place.

“If you notice on the map, there is a plaza, a hub for the ride share lot. There is where Uber and Lyft will drop off and pick up. That is a little closer to Protective, Boutwell, and the BJCC area,” said Blevins.

These details will only become more important in the days ahead as the city is ready to shut down more streets as the international competition arrives. Still, while vehicle travel will be limited, everyone will be able to move freely inside the secure perimeters.

“All of these spaces that we are talking about with secure perimeters and road closures are only for non-official, non-credentialed vehicles. People will be able to move freely in these areas on foot,” said Journey.

For a greater look at the detour or bus routes, or some of the maps for parking click here.

The Alabama Department of Transportation announces the following lane closures at 7 p.m., on July 8th, 9th and 13th for the World Games:

• The outside (right) lane of I-59 South will be closed starting at the 31st Street Exit and ending just south of the off ramp to Red Mountain Expressway.
• The on ramp from 31st Street to I-59 South will also be closed during these times.
• The lane closure will be removed each night at 11 p.m., and all lanes re-opened to traffic.

Motorists are requested to consider using alternate routes, adjust arrival/departure times, observe work zone speed limits and other work zone signs, and use extreme caution in this area.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE WBRC FOX6 NEWS APP

Subscribe to our WBRC newsletter and receive the latest local news and weather straight to your email.

Copyright 2022 WBRC. All rights reserved.