Gulf Shores, Ala. – (OBA) – Gulf Shores is making moves to start on phase two of the project adding a third southbound lane on State Route 59.

Phase two of the project will be adding the lane from Cypress Bend Drive or the Target intersection to just north of County Road 6. To make this happen water and sewer mains will have to be moved from West 34th Avenue to County Road six. The portion from Cypress Bend Drive south to Fort Morgan Road has already been bid out.

Gulf Shores Utilities will bid out this phase and the city will pay for the work after it’s completed. Council members and Construction Manager Clint Colvin discussed the project at the April 15 work session.

“This is about a reimbursement agreement with Gulf Shores Utilities for the relocation of utilities required for the highway 59 widening project per the unit pricing submitted to Gulf Shores Utilities in the amount of $3.5 million,” Colvin said. “The water and sewer mains have to be relocated all the way up past County Road 6 in order for us to construct that additional lane. Gulf Shores bid this project out and opened bids a couple of weeks ago and the lowest bidder was Hemphill Construction.”

The total cost of the project is $4.5 million, but this is for work unrelated to the relocations to make way for the new lane.

“Everything above the base bids are basically upgrades that Gulf Shores Utilities was looking to do,” Colvin said. “The city’s only responsible for the base bid amount which is what had to be moved versus to construct that additional lane.”

West 34th Avenue comes in under phase one of the project and Colvin said this has to be done before phase one can be completed and work on phase 2 can begin.

The council will vote on this reimbursement at the next regular session on April 22. During the April 15 work session, the council also:

• Saw presentations from Fire Chief Mark Sealy for the Lifeguard of the Month for March Liam Bickham and Firefighter of the Quarter Derrick Jimenez.



• Discussed approving the Alabama Department of Transportation’s maintenance agreement for a sidewalk on the west side of State Route 59 in the area of the new Langston Animal Hospital.

• Considered authorizing the mayor to execute an agreement with Gulf Shores Utilities for reimbursement of $3.5 million for relocation of utilities on the west side of State Route 59 from the bridge north to County Road 6 for the ongoing widening project adding a third southbound lane on the roadway.

• Heard a proposed amendment to the traffic ordinance to change speed limits on 17 stretches of road in the city including Canal Road from East Second Street to East 10th Street at 45 mph and east of East 10th to the city limits at 55 mph.

• Discussed three items concerning the city’s Fourth of July fireworks celebration including an assembly permit, a memorandum of understanding with Gulf State Park to use the park’s pier to launch the show and a contract with Pyro Shows for $36,500 to put on the show.

• Heard a request for an assembly permit for the Doc’s Hot Trot for ARC at LuLu’s on June 15.

• Heard a request for an assembly permit for the third annual Coastal Alabama Food Truck and Beer Festival at the town green in Gulf Place on Nov. 9-10.