DAPHNE, Ala. — The Baldwin County Citizens for Responsible Development sent a letter to John Cooper, director of the Alabama Department of Transportation, on Feb. 15 in opposition to a proposed service road connecting Spanish Fort’s Eastern Shore Centre and the Spanish Fort Town Center.

Chester McConnell, a resident of TimberCreek and a member of the group, composed the letter to ALDOT with input from other members of the group. The group comprises primarily TimberCreek and Lake Forest residents, according to McConnell.

“We are just a group of citizens who are trying to get some of these projects done the way we want them. We have been meeting for about a year, mainly opposing the service road,” said McConnell.

The letter states the proposed road is a “matter of serious concern to citizens in Lake Forest and TimberCreek subdivisions and other locations in Daphne.”

The group considers the proposed service road to be “unacceptable,” because its membership believe it is not needed.

“The officials claim that the road is needed to connect the Spanish Fort Town Center with the Eastern Shore Centre. That is what the whole purpose is. There are three other ways to get between these two places,” said McConnell.

City Councilman Mike McMillan of Spanish Fort is in favor of the service road and contended it will be a valuable addition to the area.

“It will be beneficial to all of Baldwin County, not just Spanish Fort because it is going to open up additional lands for additional tax revenue. It is going to open up transportation corridors. Without it, you are just going to have a road that dead-ends,” McMillan said.

Spanish Fort has always been in support of the service road, according to McMillan, because the city’s portion of the road has already been completed. McMillan said right now the road is just a “road to nowhere.”

However, McConnell’s group believes the proposed service road will have a detrimental effect on the environment.

“We believe the proposed road would be an economic and environmental disaster,” said McConnell. “We know that it would cause numerous problems during construction and afterwards it would cause flooding. It is just a disaster waiting to happen.” 

“What the service road will allow to happen is the headwaters of those creeks that empty into Lake Forest would have the monetary funds to fix their erosion issues,” McMillan countered. “It will absolutely improve the watershed conditions.”

The group is also concerned the service road will be harmful to property values and decrease quality of life.

“It would be unsightly to the people who live there,” McConnell said, referring to TimberCreek residents. “Right now they are looking out at a forest; if they put the road in then a lot of them will be looking out at a highway,” said McConnell.

The group proclaimed their support for a trumpet-design interchange, but the group is staunchly opposed to the completion of the service road.

“The interchange and the service road are two different projects in our mind,” said McConnell. The group’s letter suggests the trumpet design would reduce traffic congestion since the nearest interchange is less than a mile away.

A trumpet design interchange does not require drivers to stop; it will allow traffic to keep flowing.

The group supports all proposed road projects in Baldwin County except the I-10 service road.