City crews and contractors have made progress on an ongoing ditch improvement project on the west and east side of town around the Intracoastal Waterway. Gulf Shores City Engineer Mark Acreman gave them a progress update during the council work session Jan. 4.
Mayor Robert Craft asked Acreman for an update on the maintenance work to improve the ditches and drainage. The council voted unanimously Sept. 13, 2021, to approve a resolution awarding McElhenney Construction a drainage maintenance contract not to exceed $150,000. McElhenney Construction has been working to assist the Public Works Department with citywide drainage maintenance.
“We have been overseeing the McElhenney Construction contract and they have been working very diligently on the east side of town cleaning out ditches. I would say they have done probably 70% to 80% of what we have asked them to do if not more,” Acreman said. “While McElhenney Construction has been doing that work, public works has been diligently working on the west side.”
Craft asked if the culverts on some of the east side were being replaced in areas where the culvert is clearly below where drainage could get through.
“We haven’t done many replacements yet because we have been focusing on getting the ditches opened first and gauge where the culvert elevation should be. We have had some broken culverts that were causing some sink holes that we had to replace. As far as just replacing to get them back on grade we have not done any of that work yet.”
Councilman Joe Garris asked Acreman for an update on the West 4th Street Bridge project.
“Lee Jones and I have both been working back and forth with traffic engineers and land planners to come up with various ideas on how to approach that bridge as well as the bike lanes on Mill Ridge Road and adding some bike lanes or multi-use trails to 4th Street as well. We have been compiling all that information and getting the renderings prepared to present in a public forum to get input from the community. We are close to being finished with that process and hope that in the next 60 days we will be able to schedule a public involvement meeting and get the citizen input on that bridge as well as Windmill Ridge Road and the improvements we plan for it in the near future,” Acreman said.