By Gary Lloyd
Alabama Department of Transportation Third Division Engineer Brian Davis said Tuesday that ALDOT is “working through issues” with the greenways project at Trussville’s Civitan Park.
“We’re just working through issues, trying to get the project finished,” Davis said.
Davis said the $1.7 million project, which Montgomery-based Burnett Civil Contracting began in April 2012, is “behind schedule.”
“We’re working with the contractor to try to get the job completed,” Davis said.
A message left at Burnett Civil Contracting on Monday morning was not returned.
The greenways project includes a walking trail that will stretch from Civitan Park to the Trussville Sports Complex. The project has been in the works since 1998.
The project is funded with a federal grant and administered by ALDOT. The city of Trussville has no supervisory authority over the contractor, Trussville Mayor Gene Melton said.
Flooding over the Cahaba River bridge May 17-18 did not help the greenways project’s progress.
file photo courtesy of Terri Allen Finlay
Several Trussville residents were at a May Trussville City Council meeting to ask about the status of the project. Martha Driggers called the area around the veterans memorial a “disgrace.” The original plan was to unveil the veterans memorial, complete with names of Trussville veterans, on Memorial Day last year. The memorial has still not been unveiled, as the parking lot and pavers around the memorial were part of the greenways project to be performed by Burnett Civil Contracting, Melton said.
The Alabama Department of Environmental Management in late May found the project at Civitan Park was in compliance with its standards, Melton said.
ADEM earlier this year notified the city of Trussville in writing of concerns it had with the construction under way on the greenway project at Civitan Park. The letter provided a litany of concerns regarding work done by Burnett Civil Contracting, including soil erosion, improperly kept silt fences and barren land that hasn’t been seeded or covered with hay to stop runoff.
Melton spent much of Memorial Day weekend at Civitan Park as crews from ALDOT worked to address the problems ADEM listed. Trussville could have faced a $50,000 fine had the problems not been corrected.
The city council last month approved of paying Cahaba Disaster Recovery up to $25,000 for work it did to clear debris from the Cahaba River on Memorial Day weekend. Melton said at the time that about 768 bales of hay were purchased and spread around the river at Civitan Park.
Contact Gary Lloyd at news@trussvilletribune.com and follow him on Twitter @GaryALloyd.
