Highway 231 reopens ahead of schedule

Highway 231 reopens ahead of schedule

A main road in north alabama -- back open tonight!

You're taking a look at what a portion of highway 2-31 looked like after it was damaged by heavy rain in february - and what it looks like now -- just 7-months later.

Tonight -- we're hearing from drivers after a section of road that's caused many head-aches in the lacey's spring area -- is good as new.

Thanks for joining us tonight -- i'm najahe sherman.

And i'm dan shaffer.

Waay-31's casey albritton is live off highway 231 with how people are hoping the repairs save them time - and in one case - makes them money!

Casey?

I spoke to several drivers-- for most, the closure just made travel time longer... but one woman told me it kept customers from eating at her restaurant.

Crystal sierra/ resident "having to add that extra 20 minutes to and from is just a real pain."

Crystal sierra says when highway 231 shut down back in february, it made life difficult.

Crystal sierra/ resident "it just adds a lot of frustration and extra time.

Things you don't have a whole lot of time for."

Sierra says she used to travel on highway 231 several times a week .

Crystal sierra/ resident "we travel often to do doctor's appointments, i have four children still at home, so some of them see specialists..."

But the closure also kept customers from eating at her restaurant, called sierra's mexicanisimo.

Crystal sierra/ resident "they get off of work in the afternoons and they would do the detour home, and they were exhausted, so they weren't trying to come out and do dinner with us."

Sierra isn't the only one who's had issues with the road being detoured for repairs.

Robert mcauliffe/ resident "it was pretty bad because it would take an extra 45 minutes to get there."

Robert mcauliffe said the detour was always backed up.

Robert mcauliffe/ resident "we actually bought land down on 36 and it was making 36 heavily traveled."

The project was scheduled to be completed by december 2nd-- but the alabama department of transportation spent about 4.2 million dollars on equipment and materials to get the project done ahead of schedule.

Crystal sierra/ resident "we are just so thrilled to have highway 231 open and going."

The alabama department of transportations says temporary single lane closures could be possible in the future, live in lacey's spring,