[TheCapstone]

University BLVD road work begins Monday

Beginning Monday, sections of University Boulevard on the University of Alabama campus will be closed as part of the first phase of an $11.3-million road improvements project designed to enhance aesthetics and reduce the speed of traffic entering campus.

“We will be starting immediately following graduation,” said Tim Leopard, associate vice president for construction administration.

The closures are scheduled to continue into August.

The UA System board of trustees approved the project in February. The work is funded by $8.6 million in grants from the Alabama Department of Transportation and $2.7 million from UA. The project is divided into two phases.

Phase 1, which begins Monday, will include repaving and landscaping on University Boulevard from Sixth Avenue to roughly the site of the marching band’s practice field.

The work includes replacing the existing concrete roadbed with asphalt, replacing the curbs, installing new medians and irrigation, sidewalk lighting, and rebuilding of storm inlets.

The finished roadway would include two traffic lanes, bike lanes, and a center turn lane or a landscaped median. The landscaped median will occur between Devotie Drive and Second Avenue.