Senate package includes $100 million to replace Woolsey Finnell Bridge in Tuscaloosa

A $1.7 trillion omnibus government funding package approved Thursday by the U.S. Senate includes money that would be used to replace the existing four-lane Woolsey Finnell Bridge with a new six-lane bridge in Tuscaloosa.

The package was also approved by the House of Representatives, ahead of a Friday deadline for funding the government.

According to U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby's office, the Alabama Department of Transportation would receive $100 million for the bridge replacement project. The package also includes $26 million for the Tuscaloosa National Airport for the design and construction of additional runway length, along with millions of dollars in funding for several projects associated with the University of Alabama.

The funding package also includes billions of dollars for projects throughout Alabama.

“Throughout my career, I have done everything in my power to bring success to my home state," Shelby said in a news release.  "The funding for Alabama in this package is significant in terms of the impact it will have on communities and the overall statewide economy for generations to come."

The four-lane girder bridge spanning the Black Warrior River along McFarland Boulevard/U.S. Highway 82  opened in 1961. The bridge was named for Finnell, a contractor, probate judge of Tuscaloosa County, director of the State Highway Department and a civil engineer who worked for the Mobile and Ohio Railroad for 25 years.

Finnell died at the age of 88 in 1955.

As head of the state highway department, Finnell was instrumental in getting Congress to authorize toll bridges on a large scale, using profits from some of the larger ones to pay off debts on the smaller ones, according to the 1955 story published in The News.

The American Legion presented a scroll to Finnell's widow, Margaret Finnell, at a ceremony several months after his death.

"He said he didn't need monuments in his honor," she said at the ceremony. "He said his bridges and his roads would be the only type of monument he needed."

Thursday's vote was the last Shelby's 44-year career in Washington, with eight years in the U.S. House of Representatives and 36 years in the U.S. The Tuscaloosa Republican will retire as Alabama's longest-serving senator., replaced by his former chief of staff, Katie Britt who was elected in November.

“I have been blessed to represent the great state of Alabama for 36 years in the Senate, and it is my hope that I have left the state better than I found it," Shelby said. "I look forward to witnessing the results of this funding and the state’s continued growth as a private citizen in just a few short weeks.  Thank you, Alabama.  Serving you has been the honor of my lifetime.”

Here are the other Tuscaloosa projects that would be funded by the federal spending package, according to Shelby's office:

• $50 million to UA for a permanent endowment fund to support the recruitment and retention of exceptional faculty in science and engineering.

• $45 million to UA for the construction of the Center for Hydrologic Computing, which will support the center  and its co-located partners, the National Water Center and the USGS Hydrologic Instrumentation Facility, in hydrologic research, education, and forecasting.

• $10 million to UA for an institute on public service and leadership, including a scholars program.

• $45 million in grant funding for the nation’s protection and advocacy system, which includes the Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program in Tuscaloosa.

• $40 million in formula state grants for Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness (PAIMI), which supports the Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program's PAIMI program in Tuscaloosa.

• Funding to the U.S. Geological Survey to support the new USGS Hydrological Instrumentation facility, which is at the University of Alabama. This funding includes $13.5 million to support integrated water prediction operations; $4 million to assist in future hydrological research and operational efforts; and $4.5 million for UA partnerships for innovative water resource sensor technologies.

• $5 million for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to establish a Center for Paleo-environmental Records of Extreme Events, which will be at UA.

• At least $38.5 million to support staffing and operations at the National Water Center  in Tuscaloosa.

• $28.25 million, $8.25 million above the FY22 enacted level, for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Cooperative Institute for Research to Operations in Hydrology, which is at UA , to assist NOAA and the National Water Center in addressing the nation’s growing water-related challenges and leveraging CIROH expertise for most operationally relevant research. At least $1 million is maintained for the National Centers for Costal Ocean Service to collaborate on research priorities with the NOAA CIROH.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Woolsey Finnell Bridge would be replaced with new six-lane bridge