Wednesday is a busy day for local drivers, with both city and county schools welcoming students back to class for the upcoming year. But when the school day is over, one last highway hang-up will await motorists who find themselves passing through one of Cullman’s busiest intersections as the sun goes down.

Beginning at 7 p.m. Wednesday evening and continuing until the work is done, the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) and the City of Cullman will have workers stationed at the downtown intersection of U.S. Highway 278 and U.S. Highway 31, where they’ll be making scheduled adjustments to traffic signal control equipment at the heavily-traveled corner.

The work requires that the signals temporarily be taken offline, which could come as a surprise to unaware drivers seeking — but not finding — an illuminated signal to guide them. For the duration of the work, all five lanes of traffic on both highways will instead have to be regulated in person, under the eye of an officer deployed by the Cullman Police Department.

“Our role is to provide the traffic control until it’s finished,” Cullman police chief Kenny Culpepper said Tuesday. “It’s dependent on the weather, so it’s possible that it may have to be rescheduled. They’re supposed to call us Wednesday morning to make that determination.”

Members of the Cullman City Council noted at this week’s regular council meeting that the city is partnering with ALDOT to secure traffic at the intersection and assist with the signal work. But they stressed that the timing of the procedure isn’t set locally; it’s determined by ALDOT, which controls construction and maintenance on state and U.S. Highways throughout Alabama.

Assuming the weather does cooperate, Wednesday’s work will be done in a single stretch, which means crews won’t have to return to the site and extend the disruption into a second day. The department is advising drivers to be alert to the outage, as well as the presence of a traffic control officer, and to approach the intersection with caution.