GULF SHORES — Gulf Shores City Council approved a cooperative maintenance agreement between the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) and the City of Gulf Shores that allows for a quicker permitting process in Hwy. 59 sidewalk installations.

Before the agreement, any new sidewalks required a maintenance agreement with ALDOT where the city would confirm that it would maintain the roadside for each individual project. With approval of this agreement at the Nov. 25 city council meeting, no further sidewalk maintenance agreements will have to be approved for Hwy. 59 within the city limits.

Clint Colvin, capital program director for Gulf Shores, said at the Nov. 18 work session meeting that ALDOT has done this “blanket agreement for all the sidewalks” in a few other cities.

“This will allow us to not have to go back to them for anything on Hwy. 59,” Colvin said, “and then we’ll follow up probably in the future and try to do the same thing on 182.”

If sidewalks are constructed off Hwy. 59, an ALDOT agreement will be required to receive permitting for that individual project. Colvin said this agreement will only speed up the approval of construction permits on Hwy 59.

Additional lanes are currently being paved on Hwy. 59, and, as mentioned in a previous GCM article, Colvin said the city is expecting the road on the south side of the W.C. Holmes Bridge to be “completely done” in May 2025.