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February 23, 2011

Federal funds will pay for repaving of CR 1669

By Benjamin Bullard The Cullman Times

CULLMAN — The Cullman County Commission has selected a heavily-traveled road on the county’s east side as the target of this year’s federal aid allotment — a fixed annual amount of money each of Alabama’s 67 counties receives for major rural road projects.

This year’s choice is County Road 1669, a 4.9-mile span that connects the towns of Fairview and Holly Pond at intersection points on Alabama Highway 69 and U.S. Highway 278, respectively. The commission passed a resolution authorizing the project at its regular meeting Tuesday.

According to county engineer Fred Penn, the so-called federal-aid road designation applies to qualifying county roads that must meet established criteria for traffic volume and for the roles they play in tying together a county’s larger road system infrastructure.

At present, Cullman County has more than 20 such roads — major arteries such as CR 222 connecting Trimble to the Smith Lake area; Old U.S. Highway 31 (CR 1223), which chains through a well-populated rural area between Vinemont and the foot of Lacon mountain; and CR 831, which links the Jones Chapel community to Logan and, farther south, Crane Hill.

Until now, each of the two associate county commissioners — who represent the county’s eastern and western halves — took turns in annually selecting an aid road in his half of the county. Under Cullman County’s newly-implemented “unit” road maintenance system, that practice has become a more collaborative effort that relies far more heavily on the judgment of the county’s engineering staff than on that of the associate commissioners.

Penn said most of the noticeable work on CR 1669 will come later in the summer paving season, once bids have been awarded and preliminary work has been done along the right of way by county workers. The repaving job itself is subject to the state-administered competitive bidding process, which is overseen by the Alabama Department of Transportation.

* Please read the extended version of this story in the Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2011, edition of The Cullman Times.

* Benjamin Bullard can be reached by e-mail at bbullard@cullmantimes.com or by telephone at 734-2131 ext. 270.

 

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