A Cherry Hill Homes resident said she has no doubt many residents will use a new sidewalk being built outside the housing complex.

Melissa Cooper said she and her 5-year-old daughter occasionally walk to the dollar store on Florence Boulevard.

"There's a lot of people who walk to the dollar store and the Shell (convenience store)," Cooper said.

The project involves constructing concrete sidewalks on the east side of Florence Boulevard from the Tune Avenue entrance to Cherry Hill Homes to Glendale Street across from Jack's and the Shell store.

Construction Manager Kevin Evers, of the state Department of Transportation, said Rutherford Contractors, of Moulton, was awarded the contract after submitting the low bid of $355,822.

Evers said people walking west along Florence Boulevard have worn a path from Tune Avenue to near the overpass. He said the sidewalks will roughly follow that path along the curb and gutter and underneath the overpass between the guardrail and rip rap slope.

On the west side of the overpass, the sidewalks will proceed along the road and connect to the existing sidewalk on the Railroad Avenue overpass.

"There are sidewalks on both sides of the bridge," Evers said. "We will be utilizing the one on the south side of the bridge."

From there it will proceed through the concrete islands in front of several retail establishments until it reaches Glendale Street.

A retaining wall will be built on the west side of the overpass near the businesses to raise the sidewalk to the level of the roadway, Evers said.

The Federal Highway Administration requires state highway departments to add sidewalk components to new construction projects whenever they're warranted.

Allen Teague, a preconstruction engineer with the highway department's Second Division, said the worn area along Florence Boulevard is a good indication of pedestrian traffic. He said the widening project for that area of Florence Boulevard, which was done in conjunction with the Singing River Bridge corridor project, did not originally include sidewalks.

"That project was designed and built before sidewalks became such a big thing," Teague said. "We put sidewalks on the bridge but nothing to connect to it."

Evers said the majority of pedestrians walking that area are adults.

"There is definitely a lot of pedestrian traffic," Evers said.

Evers said the contract calls for the project to be completed in 75 working days.
Cooper said pedestrians are mostly from the housing complex, but she has noticed people who live in the area walking to work at nearby Burger King and Krystal restaurants. She said she is not surprised there is a worn spot on the ground next to Florence Boulevard.

Cooper said the sidewalk will get a lot of use, especially in the summer.

"Sometimes in the summer we like to walk to the dollar store," she said. "Some people walk farther than that. Kids like to walk to the Shell. It's a good project."

The project also involves installing "cobra head" street lights, which are named for their snake-head fixture design.

Shaler Roberts, Florence Housing Authority executive director, said he likes the idea of adding a safe walkway along Florence Boulevard.

"Any way to aim traffic and aim people to walk a certain way and stay out of danger is a good thing," Roberts said. "They obviously want to take that path now. They're working on it being handicapped accessible."

While there is a large number of housing authority residents who own vehicles, there are many who walk, Roberts said.

Housing authority residents also utilize a shuttle service operated by the Northwest Alabama Council of Local Governments that takes residents to and from local shopping areas.

Russ Corey can be reached at 256-740-5738 or russ.corey@TimesDaily.com.