State road crews were working in Russellville this past week to complete a project that city officials said has been necessary for several years.
Crews with the Alabama Department of Transportation worked on the creation of a left turn lane in the northbound lane of traffic on U.S. 43 in front of Calvary Baptist Church.
District 1 councilman David Palmer said this is something that many citizens have been concerned about since this is a high traffic area that tends to get congested, especially when members of Calvary’s congregation are trying to get to and from church.
“This is a heavily used intersection since there is a through road that leads to Jackson Avenue and since one of the city’s largest churches is located there,” Palmer said.
“We knew something needed to be done to help the flow of traffic in that area, so I’m glad to see this project being completed.”
Palmer said the Russellville City Council had originally set up an Alabama Transportation Rehabilitation and Improvement Program project that would help with the creation of the turn lane, but decided to work with state transportation officials instead since the work would be competed on a state road.
Mark Dale, ALDOT second division assistant engineer over maintenance, said the state was glad to help with this project to improve the safety of that particular intersection.
“David had talked to us about several issues in Russellville and this turn lane was one of those issues,” Dale said.
“This turn lane will help get the traffic out of that inside, higher-speed lane and make it much safer for motorists in that area.
“Even though the speed limit is just 55 mph near this intersection, that’s still fast enough to really cause a problem if someone is slowing down abruptly to make that turn.”
Palmer said he appreciated the state transportation officials for working with the city to get this project completed.
“I want to personally thank Mark Dale, Curtis Lemay and Mr. James Brown for their willingness to see this project through,” Palmer said.
“This was truly a team effort and we’re glad to have state officials who care about the safety of our citizens.”
Dale said the project is complete with the exception of the striping work and improvements to the median area.