Designs for new Summerdale sidewalks nearing completion

By Jessica Vaughn
Posted 4/21/21

SUMMERDALE - The Town of Summerdale was awarded a $400,000 tap grant from ALDOT in summer 2020. The tap grant program is to give municipalities the ability to provide transportation alternatives for …

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Designs for new Summerdale sidewalks nearing completion

Posted

SUMMERDALE - The Town of Summerdale was awarded a $400,000 tap grant from ALDOT in summer 2020. The tap grant program is to give municipalities the ability to provide transportation alternatives for connectivity. There’s an 80/20 match involved, and the town’s portion will be spread out over the next few years.

The monies received are being put towards major sidewalk expansions throughout town. The engineer on the project, Alan Killen with Civil Southeast, said sidewalk designs are approximately 75% complete and all required environmental documents have been submitted to ALDOT.

The proposed sidewalks would include West Lee Avenue, 2nd Street, 4th Street, West Broadway Avenue, Hamm Avenue, and Northwest 1st Street going out to the new Miracle League Field. The overall project would connect the Miracle League, the Community Center, the Summerdale Ball Park, the new tennis courts and the Summerdale Town Hall with the rest of the town’s existing sidewalks.

“I think this is exciting for the people of Summerdale that we’ve been awarded this grant, and also the town is matching funds for some major improvements for the community,” said Mayor David Wilson.

Along with the sidewalks, the project also includes the potential of a single span pedestrian bridge located near the water tower and decorative street signs. The possible pedestrian bridge would be a flat bridge with railings across a large drainage swell at the Summerdale Ball Park on Hamm Avenue.

The potential decorative signs would include the road signs and stop signs all on one pole, giving intersections a cleaner look, Killen said. The signs were added to the scope of the project with the possibility of excess funds being left after the sidewalks have been designed.

“They look really nice, but they’re not cheap,” Killen said. “When we first applied for this grant I told you the bid’s going to come in over the grant money and then we’re going to trim it back. Whatever your bid amount is, that’s your grant amount, so there’s no sense in coming in low. We’re going to try to come in just as close to the grant money as we can and these signs are going to help us. But if we come in really high, they will be the first thing to go.”

Once designs are complete, the next step is to make the first submission to ALDOT. Killen said the team is looking for a June 1 submission. He’s aiming to open bids on the project on Oct. 1, with construction beginning early 2022. Once started, he believes construction will take three to four months.