GOOD HOPE — Good Hope is taking another step toward completing the infrastructure buildout to support a growing commercial corridor along the city’s Interstate 65 interchange at County Road 222.

At its regular meeting Monday, Oct. 7, the Good Hope City Council awarded a construction bid that gives the green light to a major sewer improvement project; one that will replace existing 3’’ sewer lines with new, higher-capacity 6’’ lines along Super Saver Road and Stewart Road. The $660,602 project was awarded to low bidder Dark Horse Construction, LLC of Fultondale.

Overall, the project is expected to cost the city $770,000, with $500,000 of that amount furnished through grant awards from the Appalachian Regional Commission and the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs. Good Hope’s funding portion, at approximately $270,000, will be supplied through a $4.7 million infrastructure bond issue the city acquired last year to address a number of water and sewer upgrades.

Super Saver Road and Stewart Road connect Alabama Highway 69 and County Road 222, running from north to south as one continuous roadway on the city’s northeast side. Mize Road, which runs from east to west, serves as the intersecting point where the two road names diverge, with Super Saver Road running southward from that intersection and Stewart Road continuing northward toward its intersection with County Road 222.

The project is aimed at accommodating the increased sewer demand imposed by the new Love’s travel center currently under construction at the CR 222 and I-65 interchange, as well as that of future commercial development that the interchange may attract. Good Hope Mayor Jerry Bartlett said the city is targeting January or February as the completion window for the sewer project, a timeline that closely aligns with the travel center’s projected opening date in December.