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Alexander City authorizes $120,000 in gas-tax funds for federal HSIP road change to add center turn lane
Summary
The council approved an agreement to accept federal HSIP project HSIP0038 and to pay an extra $120,000 from gas-tax funds to upgrade a proposed two-lane connector to a three-lane road with a center turn lane to improve safety and support development.
Alexander City Council voted to authorize the mayor to enter into a federal-aid preliminary engineering and construction agreement for Project HSIP0038 and to pay $120,000 from city gas-tax funds to upgrade a proposed connector from two lanes to three lanes. The project is described in the agreement as an access-management effort intended to remove several left-turn movements on state Highway 280 and reduce accident-prone locations.
The council’s action followed a staff presentation of the HSIP (Highway Safety Improvement Program) preliminary plan, which proposes eliminating several eastbound left turns, including movements at Cove and Abbott and the eastbound left from Dayville Road onto 280. The presentation said the federal project would route eastbound left turns to a new connector road built on the triangular parcel between U.S. 280 and the adjacent highway alignment. Staff told the council that the Alabama Department of Transportation agreed to change the connector from a two-lane to a three-lane cross section at the city’s request, and that the city would be responsible for the incremental cost of that change—$120,000.
The city indicated the three-lane design would add a center turn lane to improve sight-lines and reduce traffic stacking at nearby intersections and that the design change could also help future development in the area. Councilors voted by roll call to approve the agreement and the expenditure. Councilor Eric Brown, Councilor Chris Brown, Councilor Phillips, Councilor Tapley, Councilor Dorey and the chair all recorded affirmative votes.
The staff presentation referenced Project HSIP0038 (parenthesis 561) as the federal-aid number; the transcript did not provide a final construction schedule or a detailed funding split beyond the $120,000 gas-tax commitment. The presentation also noted visibility and geometry concerns at several nearby intersections as primary safety drivers for the project.
City officials directed staff to proceed under the terms described in the agreement; the council did not set a construction start date in the presentation.
The council’s approval authorizes the mayor to execute the agreement and obligates the city to the local share described in the meeting materials.
