GOOD HOPE — The City of Good Hope has committed $50,000 to contribute to the installation of a traffic light at the intersection of 24th Street SW and AL-69, and more state and local funding is on the way.

During Monday night’s meeting, the Good Hope City Council passed a motion to contribute the funding after Mayor Jerry Bartlett shared some of the details with council members.

The intersection is located next to the Alabama National Guard Armory and Cullman Industrial Park I, and 24th Street is also used to get to AGCOR — Good Hope’s first manufacturer.

Bartlett said half of the road is in the Good Hope city limits, and there have been numerous wrecks that have caused injuries or fatalities, and those factors combined with the intersection’s close proximity to AGCOR make this a project that Good Hope should get behind, he said. 

“I think those are three legitimate reasons that we would share this,” Bartlett said. 

Cullman Economic Development Agency Director Dale Greer said the light is part of an economic development project with a local company that is looking to expand and add 70-80 local jobs, and the company requested the light to improve the safety in the area.

“They felt it was a dangerous intersection,” he said.

The expected cost of the light will be around $250,000, and the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs has committed a $100,000 grant to the project, Greer said.

He said the City of Cullman Industrial Development Board has also committed to providing $50,000 to the project and he is working to secure the remaining $50,000 from another local source.

There are around 2,000 employees who work in the industrial park, and many cars and trucks going through the intersection throughout the day, so adding a red light will make it safer for all of the people who are traveling there, Greer said.

“I just think it’s needed and we were able to get a little state money for it,” he said.