What was supposed to be a two- to three-week project in September was finally completed this week, allowing drivers to once again use Black Road on their route over Interstate 65.

The Alabama Department of Transportation announced Sept. 29 that a portion of Black Road would be closed so crews could raise the bridge crossing I-65, improving vertical clearance along the interstate. At the time, ALDOT said the closure would only take about a month, and traffic would be detoured to Wales Street, which had recently reopened after a similar project.

However, while the raising of the Wales Street bridge over I-65 really did take about a month, Black Road took two and a half. Daryl Sammet, who represents the Limestone County Commission district where the raisings took place, said he got several calls from residents who use the road as a cut-through and were frustrated by the extended closure.

“I’m sure a lot called Collin (Daly, commission chairman), too,” he said. The closure was “kind of aggravating; you have to go all the way round, either to Wales or back to town, to get on the other side of the interstate there.”

He said it’s a cut-through for a lot of drivers crossing that portion of the county, including himself.

“I was glad to see it open, I know that,” Sammet said.

The bridge work was part of an ongoing $9-million project to resurface more than 7.5 miles of I-65, from Exit 351 at U.S. 72 in Athens to just north of Wales Street, according to ALDOT.