<p>I’m going to Bama this weekend and saw a big triathlon event is going on at the same time I’ll be there. No wonder I couldn’t get a room!</p>
<p>Anyway, wondering if anyone can direct me to a site where I can find out about any road closures. I’ll be in a rental car with a GPS in case there are detours, but I want to get a heads up on alternate routes to take.</p>
<p>I’ll be traveling from Greensboro to the Ferg Friday night. I’m hoping I’ll be okay for that, since it looks like the race is actually on Saturday. But on Saturday, son and I will be renting the storage unit on Rice Mine Road/North Commons Loop and transferring items from his dorm at Riverside to the storage unit during the day.</p>
<p>Will I be able to get onto campus and will I be able to cross the Black Warrior River on Saturday?</p>
<p>Is there a Tuscaloosa website that announces road closures? Will the Bama website perhaps announce road closures, like they do on football game days?</p>
<p>Thanks for any help from those familiar with the Tuscaloosa area!</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure that only Jack Warner Pkwy will be closed in the area of the river walk. None of the bridges will be closed. You should be able to use Campus Dr to get off campus and then get on McFarland Blvd to cross the river.</p>
<p>Thank you so much. I am so stressing out over this. Almost wanting to cancel the weekend, but I hate to miss his induction and the opportunity to get the unit early. That eased the move out so much last year, especially with the tornado. Hopefully, we won’t have to worry about that this year.</p>
<p>With a child racing (excuse me, young adult), I have looked pretty carefully at course maps. Jack Warner from the ampitheatre up to Hackberry will be the main closure as posted earlier. The start/finish and transition area for this race is different than Age Group nationals last fall, and most of it is centered down by the ampitheatre. USAT has 2 parking garages down at that end listed as the only parking options. It will last most of the day as they have added a relay event in the later afternoon. There is also an awards ceremony at night but streets will be open by then and perhaps only parking will be affected. Montegut, I had 2 rooms and am most likely giving up one (at the Fairfield Inn on Courtney). Wonder if we could work out for me to slide you into it?</p>
<p>On April 21st from 6 AM to 6 PM, Jack Warner Parkway will be inaccessible to vehicular traffic due to the USA Triathlon that will be occurring during that time period. The roads that will be closed to Jack Warner Parkway will be New Marrs Springs Rd., Hackberry Lane, and Old Hackberry Lane.</p>
<p>Please utilize University Blvd to access the downtown area or McFarland Blvd during these hours.</p>
<p>Just wanted to give kudos to the organizers of the triathlon. Traveling around Tuscaloosa was just fine. While driving around town on errands on Saturday, son and I got plenty of glimpses of the cyclists. How awesome! We wished we weren’t so busy that we could have pulled over and just watched. Would have loved to have seen the swimming.</p>
<p>There was also a girls rowing meet at the same time, and they managed to do that while the triathlon was going on! </p>
<p>I had the pleasure of meeting many of the competitors and their parents at my hotel. Kids from Stanford and Northeastern University and University of Iowa and Arizona. What a geographic range, and all super nice! </p>
<p>We pretty much took McFarland and University for everything, and only one bridge was closed, and the police were well positioned to block the roads and help give detour directions for those who needed it.</p>
<p>And while also there, I took in the Bama/Vandy baseball game Friday night. What a great time! So many families and kids! I highly encourage any students and their parents to go over there and catch a game at some time during your tenure at Bama. A hidden gem on Bama’s campus!</p>
<p>I recall hubby and son catching parts of 2 games when they went to visit 2 years ago. They arrived Holy Saturday of Easter weekend and they were stretching their legs after a long day of flying heard cheering and caught the end of the game. That night DH told me how nice everyone was. Easter Sunday with not much else going on they caught the second game in the afternoon and had a great time.</p>
<p>I’ve watched triathlons for 8 years now, and this was the coolest one I’ve ever been to. It was so exciting to see the teams from all over the country, and to watch how the kids enjoyed getting to know each other. Many of the students and parents were highly complimentary of both the University and the town of Tuscaloosa. I overheard one snarky comment from a group of students from California along the lines of “only kids who want to party come here.” So much to my husband’s embarrassment they are now politely enlightened and understand the great academic community (and merit based aid) that characterizes Alabama. The only traffic problem we ran into was that University was closed in front of Buffalo Phils for the Red Bull Chariot races, which were hilarious but scary for me to watch as a mom. Montegut – glad you had a great weekend! Kept hoping we’d somehow connect in the hotel lobby. </p>
<p>PS – my daughter wanted so badly to win one for Bama since the race was in Tuscaloosa but it just wasn’t her day (she’s tiny and the winds were ferocious, so the bike was a challenge!). 21st female overall (probably about 600 girls competing) and the first freshman finisher. Next year they will be in San Diego!</p>
<p>* I overheard one snarky comment from a group of students from California along the lines of “only kids who want to party come here.” So much to my husband’s embarrassment they are now politely enlightened and understand the great academic community (and merit based aid) that characterizes Alabama. *</p>