(Reprinted with permission of Jason Collum, Publisher, Red Bay News)
Less than 24 hours after the Red Bay City Council approved Mayor Charlene Fancher’s request to solicit for bids for milling and paving several streets in the city, Gov. Kay Ivey and Rep. Jamie Kiel announced Red Bay had been awarded $350,000 to repave two of the streets discussed Wednesday afternoon – 9th Street, known locally as Waterplant Road, and Winnie Frost Drive.
Red Bay will be matching its grant with $127,485, for a total cost of $477,485 to mill and pave the 1.53 miles of roadway.
Kiel was excited to announce the project award for Red Bay.
"I am very appreciative of Mayor Charlene Fancher and the Red Bay City Council for persistently applying for grants to improve their city,” Kiel said. “Mayor Fancher has received multiple grants to bring new industry, assist current industry, and improve the roads for the citizens of Red Bay. I am thankful to Governor Ivey for this grant.”
Fancher was equally excited about receiving the award.
“This is wonderful news for our city,” Fancher said. “Paving projects have gotten so much more expensive at the same timeas our need for infrastructure improvements has increased. I appreciate Rep. Kiel and Gov. Ivey for this award, and I thank our City Engineer, Rod Hawkins, for his assistance in the grant application process. That process is extremely competitive and every dollar we work hard to obtain helps stretch our citizens’ tax dollars and make large projects like this possible. This is a great day for the citizens of Red Bay.”
The other streets Fancher had asked the council to approve soliciting bids on were Double H Avenue and 10th Avenue NE, or nursing home road. Councilman Brad Bolton asked about adding Winnie Frost Drive to that mix, which the council agreed was in need.
“Engineer Rod Hawkins is working on the specifications for this right now,” Fancher told the council Wednesday. “We are going to need to mill (grind down the existing asphalt) and repavebecause in some places putting new asphalt on top of asphalt over the years has caused the pavement to get too high and it affects drainage. And in some places we need to mill because we’ve patched to a point where you can’t patch anymore.”
Red Bay’s grant is part of more than $3.7 million in state funding being awarded to cities and counties for 12 road projects across Alabama, Ivey’s office stated in a press release. The grants are the second round of funding made available this year under the Alabama Department of Transportation’s Annual Grant Program created by the Rebuild Alabama Act.
The Rebuild Alabama Act, overwhelmingly passed by the Legislature and signed by Governor Ivey in 2019, requires ALDOT to establish an annual program setting aside a minimum of $10 million off the top of the state’s share of gas tax revenue for local projects. Additional funding will be awarded later this year.
“Rebuild Alabama is doing exactly what we promised – fixing roads and bridges in every corner of our state,” Ivey said. “With every round of funding, we’re seeing real improvements along our busiest highways and the local roads Alabamians rely on every day. This is a smart, long-term investment at work, and Alabama is better for it.”
Red Bay’s grant is the only one awarded in Franklin County. The city was awarded the maximum amount offered for projects. The only other Northwest Alabama municipality to receive matching grant funds this round was Hackleburg, which will receive $248,535.50 to assist with widening of Walker Street from U.S. Hwy. 43/State Route 17 to SR 172, and resurfacing Walker Street from SR 172 to SR 253. Hackleburg’s match amount is $25,000.
Since the passage of the Rebuild Alabama Act, ALDOT’s Annual Grant Program has awarded more than $66 million in state transportation funding for local projects.