Alabama 181 in Baldwin County has been under construction for four years, and finally, Phase 2 of the widening project is nearing completion.
The Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) is expecting thew work to be done by the end of the year. The $19.2-million-dollar project began in 2018 with utilities work. Road construction got underway in 2019 and ALDOT said there have been several unavoidable delays along the way.
“Sally slowed it down. Any time it rains, there’s issues with that. A lot of contractors have had hiring issues…hiring enough people to get things completed and then there’s the supply chain issues as well,” explained ALDOT spokesperson, James Gordon. “I mean, we don’t want to make excuses but those are the reasons why it was slowed down.”
Phase two of the project will complete the widening of Highway 181 to four lanes from just south of County Road 64, down to Highway 104. Once work is complete, ALDOT said there will still be periodic inconveniences.
“Once it does reopen to four lanes, there will be some minor lane closures for just some aesthetic type things,” said Gordon. “I mean, some drainage improvements…pipes and things, some landscaping issues. Things like that.”
The first two phases of the widening project were funded through BP Restore Act money. As for phase three which would complete the widening all the way to County Road 32, ALDOT said there isn’t currently any money to move forward.
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Source: Fox10TV.com
