Over $1 million in ATRIP-II funding awarded for Highway 33 project

DOUBLE SPRINGS    -  A dangerous traffic issue, where individual, industrial and school bus traffic all converge in the same location certain times of the day, will now be alleviated, thanks to a $1,009,904.50 grant.
Winston County has been awarded the money in the 2022 round of Alabama Transportation  Rehabilitation and Improvement Program II, or ATRIP-II funding Governor Kay Ivey and the Alabama Department of Transportation announced.  The money will be used to add a left turn lane and extend the right turn on Highway 33 at the County Road 24 intersection, which leads to Winston County High and Double Springs Middle Schools, as well as the Winston Career Academy, along with Double Springs’ industrial park in the opposite direction.
“We’ve had several accidents.  A lot of them were not reportable accidents because it may have just involved one car running off the road to get out of the way of somebody pulling out in front of them,” said Double Springs Mayor Elmo Robinson.
The idea to revamp that section has been discussed for several years.  One accident in particular brought to light the dire need to improve the intersection.
“Years ago, we had a young lady killed here at the intersection,” Robinson recalled. “We’ve been working on this since really before 2000.”  
The idea was initially to have a traffic light, to stop traffic coming from different directions at the intersection, but the traffic count was not high enough for one to be installed, officials said.
“We’re happy to get the turning lanes,” said Robinson. “Maybe that will solve some of the problems.”
Robinson said traffic volume at the intersection also consists of employees from the industrial park.
“We have four plants that use this intersection, with mobile homes being pulled out, too,” he said. “The (traffic) is more right now than it ever has been.”