West Alabama Corridor builders host community meeting to answer questions

After decades of being promised, the West Alabama Corridor project that four-lanes a highway from Thomasville to Moundville is underway. 

Representatives from Brasfield-Gorrie, the construction company out of Birmingham that is building the highway, held an informational meeting about the corridor in Demopolis on June 11 at Wallace Community College’s Demopolis campus.

The meeting was an informal event where citizens could ask construction company representatives questions about the project that will provide a four-lane highway from Mobile to Tuscaloosa, opening a second corridor for shipping goods in Alabama. Currently the only four-lane route from Mobile north is Interstate 65.

Thomasville Mayor Sheldon Day said this corridor will open West Alabama to much needed economic development. The response he reports from citizens is overwhelmingly positive. “They’ve been promised this project for nearly 50 years. Most people here tonight are here to see if it’s really happening.” 

Brasfield-Gorrie Communications Director Jeff Emerson reported “almost all of the rights of way have been acquired for this project, which is a huge milestone.” He said they are currently clearing the right of way and certain geologic studies are being carried out to determine the construction methods in various sections of the corridor.

Both Day and Emerson agree that not only will the corridor be good for shipping from Mobile to points north, but it will also open West Alabama to new businesses and industries. 

There has been some push back from state legislators representing counties up and down I-65 that the Rebuild Alabama money used for the West Alabama Corridor should be used to widen I-65 thereby alleviating some congestion and opening it up to more traffic, especially when it gets filled by beachgoing drivers.

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Day rebuts anyone who speaks against investment in the West Alabama project, saying Rebuild Alabama has a section that says “ALDOT shall develop an assessment and prioritization plan to allocate funds for economic development road and projects with priority given to projects in economically undeserved areas of the state.” 

That line means it should help rural regions like the Black Belt, he said.

“If the Black Belt Region and West Alabama is not economically undeserved, I don’t know what is.” Day said. He and Emerson both said it makes more sense to open a second corridor to route traffic through West Alabama. 

The West Alabama Corridor will help reduce I-65 traffic, making it safer, as well as bring economic development to the region, they added. It will also give a much better and safer hurricane evacuation route.

The majority of the sections of the project will be under construction by August 2025, according to Day. 

Emerson said there will be more informational meetings like this in the near future. For information on the project, jobs available and a detailed map of the route, go to www.westalabamahighway.com.