Madison County consultant reports progress on Stribling Road five‑lane widening; partial property acquisitions expected

Jay Stewart, an engineer with consulting firm Michael Baker, told the Madison County board the county’s Stribling Road widening project — extending from Deweese to Catlett — is advancing through design and right‑of‑way preparation.

“We’ve completed the conceptual plans, submitted storm drainage. ... We have finished the drilling out there for the soil report, and we should be receiving those here shortly,” Stewart said. He described the current design as a continuous five‑lane cross‑section with curb and gutter along the full length and said the firm is working on retaining‑wall design, traffic control plans and environmental review.

The consultant said the project generally adds one lane on one side and two on the other. Stewart said there are four sections within the Ashbrook area of the corridor that will be affected and that under the preferred design — which includes retaining walls — the project team estimates acquiring about 10 to 15 parcels of property. He added that if retaining walls are not used, the number of parcels requiring acquisition could rise to about 40 to 50.

Stewart said the retaining walls under consideration would be relatively short — roughly 2 to 5 feet tall — and would likely be block walls. He said the project team will produce 60% design plans; after a county review led by staff member Tim, the team will set final right‑of‑way limits and begin supplemental actions to acquire property. Stewart said the team hopes to start supplemental right‑of‑way work in the third quarter into the beginning of the fourth quarter (no year specified in the meeting).

On environmental and geotechnical work, Stewart said the environmental review is under way and "nothing has jumped out at them yet." He said soil borings have been completed and the team was awaiting the resulting report to quantify the extent of poor soils in some locations.

Board members asked a series of clarifying questions about the scope and impacts. One board member observed, “Looks like we’re gonna end up having to purchase a house,” referring to a corner property in the project area; Stewart confirmed that acquiring that house has been anticipated since the project began. The board also asked about the intersection realignment where Stribling meets Catlett near Red Fox; Stewart said the plan shows a realignment there and that the crossing where Catlett ties in will likely be controlled by a stop sign because projected traffic at that approach is minimal.

Stewart said a cost estimate for retaining walls can be provided once final design is complete. No formal motions or votes were recorded during the update.

Next steps identified in the meeting: completion and review of 60% plans, receipt and review of the soil report, continued environmental review, finalization of retaining‑wall details and a supplemental right‑of‑way acquisition phase anticipated in the county’s third and early fourth quarter schedule.