Auburn, Opelika road projects lose funding

Construction funding for Opelika’s Frederick Road and funding for the widening of Moores Mill Bridge in Auburn were lost when Congress reduced Alabama’s transportation improvement fund by $175 million.

“This has changed the overall funding mechanism for the whole state,” said DeJarvis Leonard, Alabama Department of Transportation’s Fourth Division engineer. “Alabama losing the $175 million drastically changed our ability to fund projects.”

“We have projects that are ready to be let throughout the division that we have not been able to let because we have been trying to balance our funds and determine the best use of our funds on the limited amount that we have.”

He said this is the first time in his experience that the department has had such a great loss in funding.

Lee County lost $7.4 million in the rescission, but did retain $2,083,958 in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds.

“The issue here at the Auburn-Opelika MPO is that those funds were being held and banked to be used on a special project,” he said. “Because of the rescission, they lost the funds.

“There are not funds at this time for the construction of Frederick Road,” Leonard said.

Auburn received some good news about the Interstate 85 interchange at Auburn Technology Park / Beehive Road from Leonard when he gave his ALDOT update to the MPO Policy Board on Wednesday.

“We are still looking at a late spring or early summer letting on the Beehive project,” the division engineer said.

He said he attended a meeting last week concerning the additional lanes and bridge replacement project along I-85 from Exit 58 to Exit 62 following a section of U.S. Highway 280.

“Currently that project is scheduled for 2014,” Leonard said. “That’s a project that I really want to push.”

He said he thinks long-range planning includes additional lanes all the way to the Georgia line.

Leonard also told members that bids had been let on two bridge replacements on U.S. Highway 29 North.

“Those are major projects that should be taking place in the near future,” Leonard said.

Action by the MPO Policy Board had allocated its FY 2010 apportionment of $1,180,489 and a 20 percent match of $221,382 to the I-85 interchange at Auburn Technology Park / Beehive Road.

Also, Opelika’s Frederick Road utilities funding for the project was shifted in the Transportation Improvement Program from FY 2010 to FY 2011.
Other projects moved out of program include the three-laning of Donahue Drive from 300 feet north of Bragg Avenue to Bedell Avenue and the Corridor Study from I-85 from Lee County Road 26 to Highway 280.

Policy board member and Auburn Mayor Bill Ham said the loss of funds came as a surprise to everyone involved.

“The rescission of the MPO money is a blow to Auburn and Opelika’s project and Lee County’s projects” Ham said. “I think we were all shocked when we were told by the DOT that this is where we are. We heard Mr. Leonard talk about not having a highway bill.

“Ultimately, as Mr. Leonard said, we have got to get a highway bill with some time frame to it that takes it out far enough that there is some stability in this.

“I think very soon we are going to get our interstate project bid, but our Moores Mill project and the Frederick Road project in Opelika are going to be the ones up in the air,” the mayor said. “We don’t know when it’s going to happen.”

He said it was good news to hear about the I-85 interchange at Beehive Road.

“We are optimistic about the new Technology Park interchange project coming ahead,” Ham said. “The money has been there and the acquisition of the right-of-way has happened. It has been ready to bid for over a year.”

MPO Policy Board members approved resolutions recommended by the MPO’s Citizens and Technical Advisory committees related to a $600,000 financial adjustment to cost overruns on the Frederick Road project’s first phase, hardware and software purchases, the final FY 2010 TIP Rebalance/update, an amendment to the TIP on the Northern Perimeter Road Corridor Study and ARRA grants related to transit service to rural areas.