June 10, 2013
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Highway 411 expansion project on schedule By SCOTT WRIGHT LEESBURG — Work to four-lane a section of Highway 411 in Etowah County is set to be completed on schedule, by spring 2014, a state official told The Post last week. Alabama Department of Transportation District Manager Ben Thackerson said advancements are hard to see, but work is occurring. “The new roadway parallels Highway 411 so you can’t really see the progress,” he said. “When we start working on the tie-ins at both ends, people will see that.” Thackerson said grading and paving work is currently underway. An $18.4 million contract to complete four-laning of the 7.7-mile section between the Appalachian Highway and North Gadsden was awarded in July 2012. The project had been on hold for several years due to a shortage of federal highway funding. Last year, state Sen. Phil Williams, R-Rainbow City, told The Post one of his goals is to see the final two-lane section of Highway 411 between the Appalachian Highway and Slackland Church, near Leesburg, completed. “Cherokee County is one of the few counties in the state that does not have four-lane access to an Interstate highway,” Williams said in August 2012. “That limits economic development.” ALDOT 1st Division Engineer Johnny Harris told The Post plans in late 2012 called for the final section of Highway 411 mentioned by Williams to be completed in Fiscal Year 2017. “The plan could always change, based on the future funding situation and shifting state priorities,” Harris said a year ago. |