Malia Riggs
Elmore Autauga News
The Alabama Department of Transportation held a public involvement meeting Tuesday night where ALDOT representatives were at the Prattville City Hall. It was an open house format, where members of the public could express their concerns and gain information on this proposed project. This ALDOT project is a preliminary project regarding access management along AL-6 (U.S.-82) within Elmore County, but Prattville city limits.
This project is proposed to improve the flow of traffic by modifying access on AL-6 (US -82) from Bass Pro Boulevard to the I-65 southbound ramp in Elmore County but within Prattville. The proposed project would take away some turning options and create and or modify existing medians, opening into designated left-turn, right-turn and U-turn lanes and removing a redundant driveway according to ALDOT. No additional right-of-way would be required from this location.
“This project is to increase the safety and efficiency of the corridor. It does limit some turning movement, however by doing that it decreases conflict points which should reduce crashes. This is not a final design, and this is not a final project. We do have funding and a project number for it but we’re in the preliminary stage. Part of that stage is bringing this information to the public and giving them a chance to present comments to us. We do address all those comments,” ALDOT’s Public Information Officer Brantley Kirk said.
ALDOT will receive public comments until 10 days after the meeting for review. All comments regarding this project must be submitted on or before Friday, February 9. Access to the online submission form can be submitted on the ALDOT website. Or it can be emailed to CobbsFord-Access@dot.state.al.us, or sent to ALDOT via regular mail at Southeast Region Office 100 Capital Commerce Blvd. Montgomery, AL 36117 or a three-minute comment can be made to (334) 353-6947.
“My only fear with this is that it’s going to push a lot of traffic onto the intersection of legends parkway and Red Field Road, it’s already a horrible intersection, and with the added influx of vehicles there, I’m just a afraid it’s just going to be an accident waiting to happen,” local resident Billy Barrett said.
Throughout the meeting it seemed as though there were differences in opinion, however many agreed that lighting was a major issue for this portion of Cobbs Ford Road.
“I think anything is better than what’s there. I’m disappointed that there isn’t more lighting, and apparently there won’t be in the future. I think this could probably work with the way that they have it designed. But it’s hit or miss. The lighting is disappointing and when it’s raining, you really can’t see,” local resident Connie Scott said.
“I think any improvement is great but trying to make people come out and go one way, when it wasn’t designed that way, it doesn’t work. I think money needs to be spent on lighting, I think there needs to be restriping and painting, and this money could be spent in a lot better places. The developers should have been required to do these things already,” long-time local resident George Walthall said.
In attendance was Mayor Bill Gillespie, Planning Director for the City of Prattville Scott Stephens as well as Councilman Marcus Jackson of District 2, and many other residents of Prattville and Elmore County.
Also in attendance was candidate Michael Whaley who is running for the District 5 seat on the Prattville City Council. This projected project falls under District 5 jurisdiction. Whaley also served as a deputy fire chief for many years before retiring in 2021, where he has seen many accidents along this stretch of Cobbs Ford Road.
“I believe that something needs to be done. It’s a very densely traveled section of road, however I personally responded to, and have personally, some pretty significant accidents along this stretch of road. I believe alleviating some of the left-hand-turn opportunities across four to five lanes of traffic will eliminate some of the opportunities for collisions,” Whaley said.
Whaley also stated that the exit in particular off of I-65 sees a lot of extra traffic from the interstate. These changes would not only impact Prattville and Elmore County, but visitors that come through and may not have any familiarity with the area. He is also concerned about speed at which people come down through that particular section of road.
“It might be a little inconvenient at first to get knowledge and learn the new traffic flow, however these types of projects are done in several areas. I travel with my job now and there’s a pretty bad intersection along highway-82 in Centreville, AL. They did something similar there, and they’ve seen a significant reduction in accidents. It’s going to benefit the residents of Elmore and Autauga County, and it’s going to make traveling through this section of road safer,” Whaley said.
