ORANGE BEACH — With the addition of more federal funding, the Orange Beach City Council approved the widening of Canal Road for more than one mile east of Alabama 161.

The council voted Tuesday, July 5, to approve a contract with John G. Walton Construction for about $7.36 million for improvements on Canal Road. The contract calls for the road to be widened to Wilson Boulevard, a distance of about 1.4 miles.

The council voted June 21 to postpone action on the contract after the two bids received came in 40% more than the engineer's estimate of about $5.18 million. The report from Thompson Engineering stated that material costs in recent months have caused prices for many projects to exceed estimates.

The resolution passed July 5 said the city would pay about $3.56 million with the rest of the funding being paid through the Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States Act, known as RESTORE.

The city had been scheduled to receive $3.8 million in RESTORE funding based on the original engineer's estimate.

On June 21, Orange Beach Mayor Tony Kennon said city officials were postponing action until they could determine if additional RESTORE money would be available to cover some of the increased costs.

Kennon said July 5 that the city will receive approximately $1.5 million in additional funding for the project.

He said work should begin by the fall to widen the highway.

Under the RESTORE Act, money from civil and administrative penalties charged as a result of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill to provide funds for environmental projects in Gulf Coast states affected by the spill.