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In the News: Roadwork on tap in Russellville

Originally published by Times Daily

Road work will be taking place on several city streets, starting this week, officials said.

Franklin County Highway Engineer David Palmer said work will begin today on the last round of the city’s Alabama Transportation Rehabilitation and Improvement Program (ATRIP) projects.

The streets affected are Jackson Avenue from Tuscaloosa Street to U.S. 43 and from Cotaco Street to U.S. 43; Duncan Creek Road from Harrison Avenue to the city limits; Franklin 63 from Walnut Gate Road to Hester Line Road; and Lawrence Street from Alabama 24 to U.S. 43.

He said the work includes chip seal and milling work, as well as paving.

Palmer said work also would be completed on a separate portion of Lawrence Street from the opposite side of U.S. 43 back to Alabama 24. This portion, which runs in front of the International Hearth Products facility, will be completed through an industrial access grant.

“There’s going to be a lot of activity going on the next few weeks in the city, and we wanted to make sure everyone was aware of what was going to be taking place,” Palmer said. “These are some of our busiest and most-traveled roads, so I know the roadwork is probably going to be inconvenient at times, but we believe it will be worth it in the end to have these streets repaved.”

Palmer said Charlie Watts, Inc. is contracted to do the chip seal and milling work, which will take place this week.

“This was the same type of work that we did on Waterloo Road prior to it being paved,” Palmer said. “There may be some loose gravel in the places where they’re doing this work, so we just ask that all motorists pay attention to the construction signs and slow down when going through areas where work is being done.”

He said paving work would start next week once all chip seal and milling work is completed. Rogers Group is contracted to complete the ATRIP paving projects, and Midsouth Paving will be completing the industrial access paving project.

“It shouldn’t take too long to get these streets paved,” Palmer said. “All these roads were let as one project, with the exception of the industrial access project, so there’s no schedule as to which road will be completed first. The contractors will be working together and will survey the logistics to see which areas to do first.”

Mayor David Grissom said the city’s ATRIP projects have been a long time coming, but he believed they have been worth the investment.

“This was something the city council began working on in 2012 when we were securing the funds for our 20 percent of the matching funds,” Grissom said. “It’s exciting that we’re nearly finished with all of this. Thanks to this program, we’ve gotten a lot of city streets paved that we wouldn’t have been able to pave otherwise, and I think it has been a great investment for our residents.”

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