Mt. Olive delay may expedite school’s road work
By Adam Smith
The North Jefferson News
A new delay in the widening of Mt. Olive Road was referred to as a “blessing in disguise” this week by Gardendale Mayor Kenny Clemons.
The road project, which was supposed to be let for bids last week, was held up again after a new right-of-way issue was discovered.
The project had been scheduled to go out for bid the previous two months. Bid-letting for the project will now be pushed back to August.
Clemons said while the delay would be frustrating for Caufield Square developer Bob Jones, he said it may give crews enough time to finish a connector road from Odum Road to Gardendale Elementary School.
He said the completion of the road to the elementary school would help take some traffic off Mt. Olive Road, making the widening process easier once work on that project begins.
Jones said the piece of right-of-way that again held up the bid-letting for the project is owned by the Jefferson County School Board.
Jones said the issue is scheduled to be talked about at a July 11 school board meeting. The issue will have to be resolved before bids can be let on the project again.
Alabama Department of Transportation Division Engineer Brian Davis said the piece of property in question is part of a retaining wall on school property.
He said the best course of action for ALDOT was to delay the project a month so Jefferson County could secure the tail end of the retaining wall.
“Anytime you have something like this happen, it’s problematic,” Davis said. “There were two little boo-boos in the plan. A month delay is not a bad thing.”
Jones said despite another delay, work on the Caufield Square site continues. He said crews are laying stormwater pipe and also grading the surface of the site.
He said once crews complete that work, they will be at a stopping point until bids on the project can be advertised again.