TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (WIAT) — Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox and the City Council broke ground Monday morning on a major project that will expand the city’s Riverwalk.

Mayor Maddox says the Western Riverwalk at Oliver Lock and Dam will be a game changer for the city.

“It will be a little more than one mile long and will have 94 lights and several security cameras and it will be a twelve-foot shared pathway for bicycles and pedestrians that will connect to the Jack Warner Martin Luther King project and eventually, when the new Woolsey Fennell Bridge is down, this will take you to McWright’s Ferry Watermelon Road,” Maddox said.

When phase three of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard/Jack Warner Parkway project is complete, the Western Riverwalk will connect to the current Riverwalk near the Tuscaloosa Amphitheater, with Oliver Lock and Dam Park and River District Park both serving as trailheads.

City Councilman Matthew Wilson says the potential for this project has endless possibilities to help stimulate economic growth.

“I am grateful and thankful for what the possibilities are going to be like in the future,” Wilson said. “Today, my brothers and sisters, is a great day for Tuscaloosa and a great day for west Tuscaloosa and the connectivity and residential opportunities for growth and economic developments are awesome.”

Mayor Maddox says the project cost more than $11 million dollars and will be open to the public in 2024.