Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) Grant Application
The City of Tuscaloosa requests $22 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) for a grant to complete the redesign and reconstruction of Stillman Boulevard Bridge from Martin Luther King Boulevard to Nick’s Kids Avenue. Stillman Boulevard Bridge is a major artery into downtown Tuscaloosa and the campuses of both the University of Alabama and Stillman College, a historically black liberal arts college founded in 1876. The bridge consists of two westbound and two eastbound lanes with a four-foot pedestrian sidewalk on each side.
The Stillman Boulevard Bridge Replacement Project addresses a critical transportation need in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, by replacing an aging and functionally obsolete bridge that serves residents, students, businesses, and emergency services. The bridge is a vital connector between neighborhoods, Stillman College, employment centers, and regional roadway networks. Its current condition presents safety risks, limits multimodal access, and constrains economic opportunity in an area that exhibits characteristics consistent with rural and underserved communities.