New Fairhope roundabout officially opened

By Cliff McCollum
Posted 8/1/16

Fairhope area residents can take joy in the opening of the newly-constructed roundabout at the intersection of Baldwin County 13 and Fairhope Avenue.

City and county officials met at the …

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New Fairhope roundabout officially opened

Posted

Fairhope area residents can take joy in the opening of the newly-constructed roundabout at the intersection of Baldwin County 13 and Fairhope Avenue.

City and county officials met at the roundabout early Monday morning for a ceremonial ribbon cutting and all were pleased that the project was finished on schedule.

“I want to thank everyone for their cooperation on this joint Baldwin County and City of Fairhope project,” Commissioner Chris Elliott said. “This is an ATRIP project and we’re thrilled to have everyone coming together to make this a reality. This is a project we’ve been able to get done on time and on budget to make sure this road is open before school starts.”

State Representative Joe Faust said he was glad that some of the money set aside for ATRIP funds made its way into the community.

“This is a great day for the city of Fairhope and the county,” Faust said. “It’s something we’ve been looking forward to for a long time. We’re happy that we could be a part of it.”

Fairhope Mayor Tim Kant praised Fairhope’s council members for being willing to contribute city funds to help make sure the project became a reality.

“Our city council voted to appropriate moneys to work with the county on this with some additional costs, so we split the costs with the county to make sure this happened,” Kant said. “It was everybody working together that helped get this done.”

Fairhope Council President Jack Burrell said the new roundabout should help with the area’s traffic issues.

“We’re very proud of this new roundabout in Fairhope,” Burrell said. “We hope that once people get used to it, they’ll really appreciate how it helps with the traffic flow here through the city. I know from having kids in the school right up the street how important it is to be able to get them there on time and this will help facilitate that as well.”

Kant said the city hoped to be able to conduct traffic studies on the area soon to show what effect the roundabout placement has had.

“With the way this roundabout was constructed, it can also give us the ability to add another lane to it if it becomes necessary to three-lane Fairhope Avenue,” Kant said. “We’re always trying to make sure we’re planning for growth and for the future here in Fairhope.”