DECATUR, Ala. — The city of Decatur is rich with history and with that, come roads, sidewalks, and stoplights that also show the passage of time.
But a beautification plan for Sixth Avenue, from the Hudson Memorial bridges all the way to Delano Park, could soon change the view, and the traffic flow, as you enter the city.
Dane Shaw, the director of development for the city of Decatur, says this project is a long time in the making, "we've been at this probably for three years now. I mean, just the architectural drawings, landscaping drawings…"
And they're almost ready to get started with the renovations, "we're finally at the end of the process where we are submitting our final documents to ALDOT for the permit that comes down, that allows us to go out to bid," Shaw said.
He says they've been conducting soil tests, performing traffic studies to see what signal poles they can remove, and looking at the foundations. This is done to ensure they'll be creating a better flow of traffic for residents and visitors.
"Sixth Avenue is a major thoroughfare here. So having that look nice, but also being able to connect to the different businesses and going into downtown and getting up to [U.S.] 31/67, it's just going to be a major project for our city and one that we're looking forward to doing," Shaw said.
This also includes improving the sidewalks, adding different shrubs and trees, and even having the power lines go underground to help with the sightlines.
Decatur Utilities has already started working on burying the power lines underground, "they have about 40 to 50% buried, but they'll have more that they're going to bury."
Shaw says they're expecting the project to cost about $10 million, something the city will pay for with a bond.
He says once they receive their permit from ALDOT, and once the bidding process is complete, construction could start in the spring.
They also plan to work on this at night, to avoid issues with traffic. And Shaw says it could take about eight months to complete.