For the past few weeks the City of Foley has been making visible improvements to walkways in the historic district, along with some improvements which aren’t visible to the naked eye but should prove helpful to the area as well.

Randy Kurtts, assistant engineer for the City of Foley said the work being done was mostly repair work. According to Kurtts, repairing the sidewalks before they deteriorate too much is cheaper than having to replace them later.

The city council appropriated more funds to complete the current project. The additional funds bring the total bill for the city to $14,000.

According to Kurtts, the total could have been much higher. Many city employees have completed a lot of the work including demolition. Once the public works department prepares the space, local concrete companies have been hired to pour the concrete. The city has also been able to save money by buying the concrete directly, which has kept the total cost per square foot under $3.

By doing as much work as possible themselves, Kurtts said, “We have stretched the money out the most that way.”

Since the price seems to be right, Kurrts said the city has plans to repair and improve more sidewalks in the downtown area to continue the streetscape project. 

Work has been mostly completed along U.S. 98 in the historic district west of Alabama 59 in front of businesses including The Gift Horse and The Foley Performing Arts Association.

Kurtts said early last week that the work on U.S. 98 was about halfway completed.

“There is just some patchwork in front of businesses left,” said Kurtts. He is working with a few businesses to try and convince them to use their back entrance for a day so that the work in front of their businesses can be completed. Kurtts has been trying to avoid doing any work on the weekends because overtime pay would have to be paid.

While the blacktop was taken up along Laurel Avenue, Riviera Utilities also completed some much needed utility work. By completing the work now, the blacktop will not have to be pulled back up in the future to fix the problem.

Riviera worked with the Foley Fire Department to install two new fire hydrants and replace two fire hydrants. The historic district has been plagued in recent years with low water pressure, so Riviera also put in a place for a future tap for the water main to tie into the header line. The tie in is scheduled to take place this coming spring.

Kurtts said the council and the public are happy with the work that has been completed so far.

The exact plan for future work is uncertain, but Kurtts’s understanding is that once the work is completed on Laurel Avenue and the planters and striping are put in place the next area which will be worked in will be West Orange Avenue to Alston Avenue. Kurtts also hopes that the work will be completed along Laurel by Thanksgiving so all of the businesses will be fully open and easily accessible for holiday shopping. The additional work is included in the proposed budget for this fiscal year.

“We are trying to put it all back together,” said Kurtts, “but the recent rain hasn’t helped much.”