Sep. 26—Two railroad crossings in Morgan County will receive safety upgrades after the Decatur Area Metropolitan Planning Organization approved the federally funded projects Wednesday.
Crossings on Main Street in Hartselle and North Seneca Drive in Trinity are scheduled for improvements in fiscal 2026, which runs from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30, 2026.
Trinity’s crossing will receive new gates, bells, lights, signs, markings and legends.
“The gates have not ever been there, so it’s going to be a good safety feature for the town of Trinity,” said MPO Director Dewayne Hellums.
The Trinity project, funded entirely with federal money, will cost $630,000.
“(The projects) are funded by Federal Highway Administration funds,” Hellums said. “It’s a rail safety program.”
Trinity Mayor Vaughn Goodwin said the upgrades are needed given the town’s growing population.
“It’s a big safety issue,” Goodwin said. “Right now, we’ve had so much extra traffic due to First Solar and some of the other plants coming online. It’s bumper to bumper in the morning, from Alabama 20 all the way through town. It’s something we’ve been trying to get for several years now, and it has finally come to fruition. Hopefully, it will save someone’s life.”
Hartselle will receive similar safety equipment at its Main Street crossing, also funded through the federal program. That project will cost $725,000 and includes a bell and panel box, as well as upgrades to the sidewalk crossing, gates, lights, markings and legends, Hellums said.
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ALDOT updates
Alabama Department of Transportation North Region preconstruction engineer Rod Ellis also briefed the MPO on ongoing and planned road projects.
Ellis said crews are continuing bridge maintenance on Interstate 65, which includes cap repairs and replacing bearing pads. The work will pause during the winter because of migratory bird protections, then resume in the spring with completion expected by early summer.
Phase 1 of the I-65 resurfacing project, from just south of the Morgan County line to Alabama 36, is nearly complete.
“The majority of that paving is complete,” Ellis said. “We’re still working on the open grated friction course coming over the mountain in Lacon.”
He added that Phase 2, stretching from Alabama 36 south to the Tennessee River bridge, will begin in the spring and should be finished by summer.
Ellis said contractors are also replacing signs on Interstate 565 near the state line and are on site now. He noted that the I-65 Intelligent Transportation System project, which uses fiberoptic networks to connect traffic cameras, sensors and other devices to improve traffic flow, is progressing, with most of the poles and conduit installed and hardware being added.
Other ongoing work includes the Decatur causeway lighting project, which is nearly finished, and sidewalk reconstruction along the east side of Sixth Avenue Southeast, which began this month. Paving is complete on Beltline Road Southwest, pending final striping, and mainline paving is finished on Alabama 24 from the Lawrence County line to Beltline Road.
Ellis said intersection improvements at South Greenway Drive and Alabama 24 in Trinity should begin later this year, and similar work between Vaughn Bridge Road and U.S. 31 in Hartselle will also start soon.
Looking ahead, Ellis said ALDOT is in the design phase for a U.S. 31 bridge replacement over the Norfolk Southern railroad near the ALDOT district office.
Bridge replacements are also planned on I-65 near Lacon, including spans over the CSX railroad and Flint Creek. Ellis said ALDOT is still negotiating with CSX before finalizing designs.
Additional deck rehabilitation is planned for the I-65 bridge over Alabama 67 in Priceville and a pair of bridges over Cedar Creek south of Thompson Road. The project will use hydro blasting to remove the top few inches of the deck before replacing the concrete. Plans are about 65% complete, with construction scheduled for fiscal 2027.
In Hartselle, design is 85% complete for intersection improvements at Lando Cain Road and Alabama 36. In Decatur, reconstruction of Church Street Northeast from Alabama 31 to Somerville Road is also about 85% complete, with completion scheduled for summer 2026.
Plans are in place for an intersection project at Alabama 67 and Upper River Road in Decatur, scheduled for fiscal 2026, while Hartselle’s project to improve the U.S. 31 and Sparkman Street intersection could be bid around December.
— wesley.tomlinson@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2442.