How bad is traffic in Tuscaloosa and Birmingham on a Friday late afternoon?

Bham traffic can be a bitch

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Bham traffic can be a bitch

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Stay away from 280 and stay away from the 59/65 junction.

Are you going on to ATL or up to Tennessee? There are parts that are fine during rush hour. Avoid 59/65/280 and you're good. Get on 459 if you can.

If there aren't a bunch of crashes (which on a Friday afternoon, there are usually plenty) then it isn't just awful. The junction of I-65 and I-20/59 (and surrounding areas) in Birmingham is bad because they are doing major construction on it.

If you have somewhere to be, give yourself plenty of time. People are leaving Birmingham and heading out at that time, so you're best bet might be to get on 459 from 20 at McCalla and take it to 65 in Hoover and then get on 65 north and head to downtown.

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Should I leave Nola now or go later tonight? Just need to make it to hotel no plans tonight

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If you're in no hurry then just leave whenever. It's hard to be specific because you just never know where and if there will be accidents. I don't live in that part of town, so others here may can tell you more about how that area is.

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Is there any large city that doesn't have traffic problems at 5 on Fri?

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I think half the people in Memphis take Friday off because I always cruise all the way home with no jams on Fridays.

You're going to potentially run into some slow down traffic in Tuscaloosa due to the road construction. B'ham flows pretty smoothly, but the roads are dog crap

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Does it matter? If you're going regardless, just grin and bear it.

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helpful, thanks

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Is there any large city that doesn't have traffic problems at 5 on Fri?

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Baton rouge is usually smooth sailing

Avoid 280 like the plague. 459 tends to move well even though there is congestion, but hey it is still better than Friday rush hour traffic in the clusterfrick they call Atlanta.