Believe it: Bid chosen for bridge approach

The bid for construction on one of the Shoals' most long-awaited projects could be awarded as early as next week, according to the Alabama Department of Transportation.

A spokesman from the Alabama Department of Transportation in Montgomery said the department has chosen the successful bid to complete the north approach of the Patton Island Bridge Corridor from Huntsville Road to Helton Drive.

James Brown, second division engineer for the Alabama Department of Transportation, said the bid is awaiting final approval from the Federal Highway Administration before it can officially be awarded.

"The bids have been taken, reviewed and the low bid has been selected," Brown said. "The contract will be awarded pending concurrence from the Federal Highway Administration."

Brown said the bid must be approved by the Federal Highway Administration because federal funds will be used to pay for the project.

A department of transportation spokeswoman in Montgomery said that the low bid submitted by Wright Brothers Construction Co., Inc., of Charleston, Tenn., was selected for the project.

The company submitted a bid of $20,874,771.51 to complete the project, which will cover 1.269 miles of roadway.

APAC-Southeast Inc., of Birmingham, submitted a bid of $21,443,105.61, and Racon, Inc., of Tuscaloosa submitted a bid of $22,460,461.06.

According to the state department of transportation Web site, the project will take approximately 550 working days to complete, and officials have said construction will likely take two to three years.

The project will involve extending the current Patton Island Bridge Corridor from just north of Huntsville to connect to Helton Drive, and extend to the intersection of Helton Drive and Hermitage Drive.

When the project is complete, it will allow motorists to drive on the corridor from Huntsville Road to Hermitage Drive without stopping at a single traffic light.

Beginning at Huntsville Road, the corridor will be similar to an interstate, in that it will have a massive interchange at Florence Boulevard, but no traffic signals on the actual corridor.

An overpass will take the corridor over Florence Boulevard, with on and off ramps allowing a continuous flow of traffic.

There will also be a service road allowing motorists to access businesses alongside the corridor on the northeast side of the interchange.

The project will connect Hermitage Drive to the corridor's southern bridge approach in Colbert County.

Muscle Shoals Mayor David Bradford said that construction work on the south approach that will take the corridor to 700 feet south of Avalon Avenue on Wilson Dam Road, is in progress.

Bradford said he is hopeful that right of way could be purchased for the next phase of the project, which will extend the corridor to the Wilson Dam Road railroad overpass.

Once the entire project is complete, motorists will have a multilane road extending along Helton Drive, across U.S. 72 in Lauderdale County to Alabama 157/20 in Colbert County.

Bradford said the full effect of the project would not be felt until the entire corridor is completed.

"We need the entire corridor to be completed for it to become a viable economic benefit for the Shoals," Bradford said. "

Ty West can be reached at 740-5720 or ty.west@timesdaily.com.