Many of Alabama's roads and highways do not receive the necessary maintenance or improvement in relation to the increasing amount of traffic they sustain.
"DRIVE Alabama is a coalition of community leaders, elected officials, and everyday citizens who are committed to developing a transportation and infrastructure vision that will meet Alabama’s 21st century mobility needs," according to their website. "The coalition was the brainchild of Alabama’s 67 county engineers who recognized the urgent need to educate the public about the current state of Alabama’s county roads and bridges."
The purpose of DRIVE Alabama is to raise awareness of the infrastructure of Alabama, and hopefully generate the funds to improve roads, which impacts the quality of life in Alabama.
The Alabama Transportation Rehabilitation and Improvement Program (ATRIP) was introduced by Gov. Robert Bentley in 2012 as a one-time investment of federal funds into the infrastructure of Alabama.
In Lee County alone, a combined total of $38 million in ATRIP and county funds has been allotted for 41 miles of road pavement resurfacing and 15 bridge projects. However, many smaller local and county roads are exempt from ATRIP funds because of their classification, leaving many areas still in need of maintenance or improvement.
County engineers lament the rising costs of materials and lack of funds to maintain roads, and consequentially their inability to serve public citizens.
ATRIP has funded many significant projects within Lee County, according to Justin Hardee, Lee County engineer.
"The first road they see in the morning and the last road they see after working at their job to get money they don't want to have to pay more taxes on is the road that they live on," Hardee said.
While a portion of the state gasoline tax is given to counties to pay for the maintenance and improvement of county roads, the funds cannot keep up when it costs $600,000 to pave 11,000 feet of road.
"What most people don't understand is that for every dollar you put into infrastructure, you get a five to one return benefit," said Josh Harvill, Chambers County engineer.
Alabama Sen. Gerald Dial it is important to maintain roads throughout the county.
"It's obvious we're at the point where something has to be done ... these roads are important, these people they travel this road every day, they pay their fuel taxes and they want something done on it, and we are going to have to make some adjustments in our fuel taxes," Dial said.
He said people's safety is most important when maintaining the roads.
"It won't solve all the problems, we have to address them and we have to prioritize them so that people, number one, feel safe and number two, have adequate transportation methods that aren't damaging their vehicles," Dial said.
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