Drivers who travel on Carson Road can now feel a little safer.

After citizens made numerous telephone calls to the Jefferson County Comm ission and the city of Fultondale, a Jefferson County Roads and Transportation Department crew finally cut extensive mimosa overgrowth along the road on Friday and Saturday.

“We apologize for the inconvenience and thank all of you for your patience,” said Commissioner Joe Knight in a release. “We appreciate the calls from the citizens advising us of this hazard, and apologize for not being able to resolve this in a timelier manner.”

Knight said the maintenance of Carson Road “has been the subject matter of a dispute between Jefferson County and the city of Fultondale since 2009.”

In June 2009, the county commission adopted a resolution to terminate all road maintenance on county roads within municipalities, because Jefferson County was experiencing a financial crisis. The county later declared bankruptcy.

Fultondale Mayor Jim Lowery said Monday that the city’s response to the county’s 2009 resolution was to send the county commission a letter reminding commissioners of a previous agreement, signed in 1995, in which the county agreed to maintain Carson Road and other county roads in Fultondale.

Lowery said Fultondale does not have the manpower or equipment to maintain county roads.

“We’re glad they were able to work out enough financing to maintain Carson Road. They made it safer,” Lowery said. “Mimosa trees and vines were beginning to grow over the guard rails. We’ve had a lot of people expressing their concerns. They [the county] had numerous calls and we did too.”

In addition, the county filled a large pothole on the road.

Fultondale Police and Jefferson County Sheriff deputies assisted the maintenance work on Friday and Saturday by helping control traffic.

Knight said that he has been working with Lowery and County Manager Tony Petelos to find a way to “address the immediate danger while working toward a long-term solution.”

Lowery said the current county commissioners are doing their best to clean up the county’s financial crisis.

“This group has been very responsible with the funds they have,” he said.