Third raw chicken spill in Tuscaloosa has ALDOT crying foul, rerouting trucks
State transportation officials have had enough with chicken parts spilling on Tuscaloosa roadways.
After a Monday’s spill of raw chicken offal on the Hugh Thomas Bridge – the third such spill since April – the Alabama Department of Transportation asked the manufacturer to have its contractors use a different southbound route.
“Each time ALDOT has had to respond to clean the chicken off the bridge and roadway because it creates a slick surface,” said John D. McWilliams, spokesman for ALDOT’s West Central office. “This also impacts the city with law enforcement helping to provide traffic control.
“The public is, of course, impacted due to the lane closures.”
It’s also foul. Or fowl, as the case may be.
“Hold your nose and drive carefully if you’re coming through downtown Tuscaloosa this morning!,” was the warning issued April 26 by the Tuscaloosa Police Department when the first spill occurred on the Hugh Thomas Bridge at Lurleen Wallace Boulevard South.
McWilliams said these parts came from a chicken processing plant in Jasper and were en route to a location in Mississippi.
The second spill, on July 4 on the Hugh Thomas Bridge near University Boulevard, and Monday’s unexpected deposit in the same spot, contained chicken parts from a Tyson Foods Inc. plant in north Alabama, McWilliams said. The company operates two plants in the upper part of the state, one in Blountsville and the other in Albertville.
They, too, were bound for Mississippi before they ended up baking on the hot Tuscaloosa asphalt.
“We talked to Tyson on Monday and they have agreed to no longer use that route to transport chicken from north Alabama to Mississippi,” McWilliams said. “Hopefully, this will be the last chicken spill in Tuscaloosa.”
Reach Jason Morton at jason.morton@tuscaloosanews.com.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Third spill of chicken parts in Tuscaloosa has ALDOT reroute trucks
