By Andrew Edwards
Elmore/Autauga News Staff Writer
The City of Prattville took two major steps forward at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting that would see significant infrastructural changes within corporate limits.
The first was the passing of a resolution that would allow the mayor to submit a FY 2021 RAISE Grant Application to the United States Department of Transportation for an amount not to exceed $17.5 M. The funds would go towards improvements for McQueen Smith Road from its intersection with Cobbs Fords Road to US 31.
The City of Prattville would have to commit cash funds for the project in the amount of $5,250,000 from the general fund, should the grant be awarded by the USDOT. The RAISE Grant Program can allow grant funding of up to 70 percent of eligible project costs from the USDOT.
The McQueen Smith Project would include a widening of the road, from two lanes to four, and would implement a traffic signal where the road intersects with US 31.
The city is currently in the “right-away acquisition phase”, the process of purchasing land around the road to make way for the widening. City Engineer Robby Anderson said that the project will ultimately happen whether or not they obtain the funding. However, if federal funds are not granted, the expansion will happen later rather than sooner.
Mayor Bill Gillespie was excited about the prospect for the road’s widening, citing that it be beneficial to the area in many ways.
“It’s going to bring a lot of safety to our community. It connects to Highway 31, which is a major corridor going into Maxwell. It also connects to Fairview Avenue and has Highway 82 run through it. It’s a main artery that runs north/south, so it will bring a lot of better travel, better safety, and just helps make us a better community,” Gillespie said.
Councilmembers also passed a resolution that authorizes the mayor to file an application for ADEM’s Scrap Tire Marketing Program, which grants funds for park surfacing improvements. Funds asked for in the application can not exceed $1,104,000. The net cost to the city cannot exceed $90,000.
The improvements would see mulch and asphalt replaced with a rubberized surface at various parks throughout the City of Prattville. Those parks, and the cost of each project, can be viewed below.
• Lorenzo “Lo” Pickett Park ($79,962)
• Miller Park ($272,626)
• Overlook Park ($179,065)
• Upper Kingston Park ($352,945)
• Pratt Park ($219,402)
