Commission opposes U.S. 43 plan
The Franklin County Commission voted Monday to adopt a resolution of non-support for a proposed access management plan along U.S. 43 that could eliminate many of the medians through Russellville.
The Russellville City Council passed a similar resolution two weeks ago.
The commissioners will send a letter to the Alabama Department of Transportation expressing their opposition to a highway project that many business owners feel would cut off access to their locations.
“The plan to limit access on Hwy. 43 would be detrimental to our businesses,” CB&S Bank President Dennis Upchurch told commissioners Monday.
The city of Russellville has renderings of a proposed plan that shows the elimination of most of the medians along U.S. 43. State highway officials said those drawings are only concepts and nothing is officially in the planning stages for the project.
Two weeks ago, Russellville Mayor Troy Oliver released an email that he received from ALDOT Chief Engineer D.W. Vaughn concerning the plan. It reads as follows:
“I understand there is a lot of interest and concern surrounding the planned safety improvement project on US-43 in Russellville. Let me assure you that as the project develops, opportunities for public input into the project design will be provided through public involvement meetings,” Vaughn said via email.
“We have only recently selected a design consultant and we are currently in the process of developing a scope of work and negotiating a fee for the work effort. The first order of work will be to hold a public meeting in Russellville to gain public input. This will be done before any meaningful design work is accomplished.
“To date, all that has been developed is a single design concept. This concept was developed to show that roadway modifications could improve safety to motorists on US-43 in Russellville. Citizen input will assure that our final design maximizes safety to motorists while considering commercial access needs.
“Our project development process is deliberate but sometimes time consuming. We are committed to this project and look forward to working with Russellville on this important transportation issue.”
Business owners and managers who have seen the plan believe it will cut off access to their businesses and make traffic easier to just flow through Russellville rather than helping customers get in and out of stores along the bypass.
The project was expected to cost between $5 million and $13 million to complete.
The county commission will also send the letter of non-support to State Sen. Roger Bedford and State Rep. Johnny Mack Morrow.
Commissioner Greg Smith said he did not want to support any plan that could hurt business owners in any part of the county.
“Our businesses are concerned about this and we can’t support anything that will hurt them,” he said.
