Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin addressed concerns about the Interstate 59/20 bridge demolition during his opening remarks at the District 5 Town Hall meeting at the Boutwell Auditorium Tuesday night.

"[The interstate] is not coming down in 2018," Woodfin said, adding the demolition likely won't happen until early 2019.

Alabama Department of Transportation Officials initially said the demolition should begin in fall 2018. Efforts by AL.com to reach ALDOT officials Tuesday night were unsuccessful.

"Not in 2018, but it will happen. It's going to happen," District 5 City Councilor Darrell O'Quinn said after the meeting. "And it will be closed for around 14 months."

Woodfin said he's working with ALDOT to ensure Birmingham residents--especially those living in the areas in and around the interstate rerouting course, which will run through areas of downtown--are informed.

Some of the neighborhoods that may be heavily affected by the downtown reroute are Fountain Heights, Druid Hills and Central City.

O'Quinn said ALDOT officials told him they are working on traffic rerouting models in hopes of identifying areas where traffic could become congested in downtown.

ALDOT is replacing the elevated portions of I-59/20 bridges in downtown primarily due to age. The bridges are now more than 45 years old and carry more than double the amount of traffic they were designed to accommodate.

Contractors working for ALDOT will tear down and replace the existing bridges that make up the elevated portion of I-59/20 through downtown. The targeted project completion date is the end of 2020.

In September, the 22nd Street exit closed permanently. New exit ramps from the interstates onto 17th Street North opened at the end of August.