County engineer reports $3.4 million in pavement work tied to Rebuild Alabama funds this year

Houston County’s engineering staff told the commission the county used Rebuild Alabama gas-tax funds and other appropriations to pave and repair local roads, amounting to roughly $3.4 million in spending so far this year. The assistant county engineer reported that three roads completed as part of the county’s Rebuild Alabama plan—County Road 75 South, Derrick Road and County Line Road—totaled about 12.1 miles and were funded with Rebuild Alabama dollars and supplemental funding.

The county explained the Rebuild Alabama proceeds are restricted by law to road-related work; county staff said they direct the funds to asphalt contracts rather than equipment purchases. The assistant county engineer said two of the three recently completed projects also used approximately $400,000 in ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds to supplement the paving work.

County officials listed additional recent paving: an extra 10.3 miles paid with a combination of commission-provided budget funds and other sources. The assistant county engineer summarized, “so far this year, we paid about $3.4 million total,” referring to combined rebuild and supplementary pavement payments.

Commissioners asked no follow-up questions on the report during the meeting, and the commission approved presentation of the 2025 Rebuild Alabama contractor report as required by state law. The approval was made during the regular agenda; no ordinance or new allocation was adopted during the discussion.

Staff also provided a near-term paving schedule: Tupelo Road and Womack are slated for paving in the next three weeks, Power Down Road will be paved soon after, and later this fall the county plans paving work on Hodge, Prevatte and Komi roads.