MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - Only one company submitted a bid for a controversial highway widening project on U.S. 431 through a southeastern Alabama city’s historic district.
The state Department of Transportation had a bid opening Friday and found Midsouth Paving of Birmingham submitted the lone bid of $1.29 million, spokeswoman Haley Ansley said.
The department had originally estimated the project would cost less than $1 million. Ansley said that if the bid passes review, the work will begin quickly with the goal of having it completed before Eufaula’s 50th annual pilgrimage of historic homes in April.
The 0.7-mile stretch is divided by medians with giant live oaks that form a canopy along with oaks in the front yards of mansions from the 1800s. The scenic drive was seen in the 2002 movie “Sweet Home Alabama” when Reese Witherspoon returned to her hometown.
The department’s plan calls for cutting 3 feet from each side of the highway median to widen the road from two to four lanes to improve traffic flow through the historic district.
U.S. 431 is a major route for Atlanta area traffic to and from Florida Panhandle beaches. It is four lanes from Interstate 65 at Opelika to the Florida line except for the stretch through the historic district, and traffic often backs up on spring and summer weekends.
The Eufaula Heritage Association has announced plans to challenge the project in court. Eufaula’s city council and mayor have also opposed the project and plan to announce Monday what action they will take.
On Thursday, Eufaula City Attorney Courtney Potthoff sent a letter to the Department of Transportation saying the city owns the section of U.S. 431 through the historic district, and it never deeded the right-of-way to the state.
The Department of Transportation says it controls the median of the U.S. highway and has told Eufaula to move its sprinkler system in the median because it will conflict with the widening. The city attorney wrote that under state law, the state must maintain the paved road, but its maintenance obligation does not extend beyond the curb. “The city has always owned, maintained, and controlled the median,” Potthoff wrote.
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