SPANISH FORT – A new transportation plan for the city of Spanish Fort calls for improvements on several municipal streets in the upcoming year.
The Spanish Fort City Council voted Monday, Aug. 16 to approve the plan that includes resurfacing on Raphael Semmes East, Raphael Semmes West, General Canby, General Canby Loop and restriping along Spanish Main, according to the resolution passed by the council.
The estimated cost of the work is $275,000.
Mayor Mike McMillan said city officials have worked with engineering consultants to determine which streets need improvements and repairs. He the work should resolve issues that have troubled residents who drive on those streets for several years.
“It’s a big project,” McMillan said. “It’s a quarter of a million dollars worth. In addition, I’ve had several complaints during the year about Spanish Main, the striping on Spanish Main being a main thoroughfare. We thought that while we have crews out there to restripe Spanish Main because it has reached the point that we can’t see it very well, particularly when it’s raining.”
Councilwoman Mary Brabner said irregularities in some of the streets also need to be fixed when improvements are made.
She said General Canby Loop has several locations where the road dips. Spanish Main also has potholes near Cannonade.
McMillan said the work should include repairs of problems in the roads.
When they resurface, what they do is go from the gutters to everything else and repair everything that’s in the roadbed itself,” McMillan said. “So, we take a complete picture and get it all done.”
City Attorney David Conner said the Rebuild Alabama Act requires cities to approve transportation plans by a certain date. The Monday meeting was the last regular session of the Spanish Fort City Council before the Aug. 31 deadline for the plan for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.
McMillan said the city needs to adopt the plan to start work on the roads.
“We do need to adopt the policy so we can move forward with this,” he said.
