Beginning Thursday through July 17, hazmat haulers will be banned from traveling on Interstate 59/20 through downtown Birmingham, Alabama, as the World Games open.
Under a directive from the U.S. Secret Service, the affected portion of I-59/20 runs from Interstate 65 to east of the E.B. Stephens Freeway (U.S. Highway 31), according to the Alabama Department of Transportation.
ALDOT said digital signs on various routes through the state will alert carriers hauling hazmat loads to use Interstate 459 to bypass downtown Birmingham. It’s unclear what efforts the agency has made to notify out-of-state trucking companies that may be surprised by the route change.
The bypass will take truckers a few miles out of their way, but enforcement will be strict for hazmat haulers found on the banned route, according to Ford Boswell, spokesman for the Alabama Trucking Association, in a recent release sent to the organization’s members.
“This restricted stretch of interstate actually rises above an area where there will be thousands of people walking around as part of the World Games,” Boswell told FreightWaves. “The reason for the restriction is to prevent any sort of crash involving a hazmat load that might happen on the interstate above where hundreds of thousands of people may be gathering, and there are other security concerns as well.”
The interstate’s bridges through downtown Birmingham rise over the city’s central business district, which includes Legacy Arena, Protective Stadium and the Uptown Entertainment District, Ford said.
As of publication, ALDOT had not responded to FreightWaves’ inquiry about how many commercial vehicles hauling hazardous materials may be impacted by having to detour around downtown Birmingham.
The World Games, postponed a year ago because of the COVID-19 pandemic, attract 3,600 athletes from more than 100 countries and could draw as many as 500,000 spectators from around the world to Birmingham, according to the Games’ website.
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