Although Jan. 20 was a federal holiday, some Birmingham, Ala., commuters may well have elected to take a drive downtown. That’s because for the first time in almost a year, I-59/20 through the city’s central business district was open to traffic, nearly ending a marathon $700-million effort to replace the 6,600-ft-long corridor’s deteriorating viaduct with safer, precast segmented structures designed to better serve the city’s steadily growing volume of vehicles.

While the public’s willingness to tolerate travel inconveniences in return for expedited infrastructure renewal has been tested many times elsewhere in the U.S., the Alabama Dept. of Transportation’s decision to close a key freeway through the heart of the state’s largest city for at least a year was not taken lightly.