This is the view of where the Highway 33/County Road 24 intersection will take place. ALDOT has amended the project after receiving concerns from town officials.
DOUBLE SPRINGS - After Double Springs officials voiced concerns with the state’s plans to improve a dangerous intersection, the Alabama Department of Transportation paid a visit and agreed to amend the project.
The Double Springs Town Council signed a letter of commitment at their March meeting signaling the town’s acceptance of an additional $400,000 in state funds awarded for the Highway 33 and County Road 24 intersection project so the project can proceed. Mayor Elmo Robinson informed the council before the vote that ALDOT had met with local officials and agreed to remove a proposed turning lane from the project due to fears it would make the intersection that becomes crowded with school and industrial traffic at certain times of the day more dangerous.
Robinson told council members that he, Council Member Tim Cockrell and Double Springs Police Chief Kim Miller had recently met with ALDOT about safety concerns regarding the project.
The project had been initially funded at $1.2 million in the 2022 round of Alabama Transportation Rehabilitation and Improvement Program II, or ATRIP-II funding, Governor Kay Ivey announced. However, the project was amended so an additional $400,000 was allotted from the 2023 round of the same funding. After that announcement was made and the outline of the project was described, town officials had concerns.
“We’ve got to sign a commitment letter that they are going to do the project,” Robinson said, noting that ALDOT Transportation Engineer Nick Taylor, had told Robinson that the project shouldn’t cost over $1.2 million.
“I called his boss and talked with him,” Robinson continued. “I said, ‘If we sign this commitment letter, you bid it out and it comes up to $1.5 or $1.6 million, will we be responsible for the (increase) or will we cancel the contract?’”
Robinson was informed that if the project did not meet the town’s specifications, the project could be cancelled, he further explained.
“For the record,” Cockrell pointed out, “I pushed for a red light (at the intersection) pretty hard and it’s not going to happen.”
See complete story in the Northwest Alabamian.
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