A long-planned Auburn interchange has officially been given the go-ahead for construction.
Exit 50, known as the Auburn Technology Park Exchange, has been part of the city of Auburn's plan for years, but lack of funds delayed construction.
"Just recently funds were put back from the federal government to the state for major highway projects," said City Manager Charlie Duggan. "It was essentially put on hold back in September with us not knowing when or if it would get funded."
That September delay was caused by the expiration of the Alabama Highway bill, which led to Alabama losing about $170 million in highway funds, Duggan said.
Jeff Ramsey, director of Auburn Public Works, said the funding for the interchange came from a combination of contributors.
"(The money) is split between the special earmark for transportation bills, the money from the Department of Transport and some money we get from the federal government with a little bit of match money from us, about $300,000 or $295,000," Ramsey said.
Ramsey also said he believed money from the federal stimulus package was used, and without that money, the project would not be completed this year.
Money issues momentarily solved, Ramsey said the main function of the interchange would be to increase traffic flow.
"This goes back to when the South College exit was designed and built," Ramsey said. "Obviously, Auburn is a growing community. We depend on a lot of traffic between here and Montgomery. A lot of people use the interstate. And so, in order to keep the good level of service at the South College interstate, we needed another interchange to separate some of that traffic."
The city had another interchange slotted for Auburn since 2004, 2005 and even earlier in the long-range plan, Duggan said.
"We had an interchange slotted, another interchange for Auburn, and the long-range plan is to create an outer loop for the city of Auburn," Duggan said.
Duggan said the "outer loop" effect created by the interchange would be similar to the loop-like structure of Shug Jordan Parkway and East University Drive.
Both Ramsey and Duggan said Auburn was a growing city and needed the extra interchange to help traffic flow smoothly.
"If you look at the city of Opelika, there are five interchanges and in that city there is half the population," Duggan said. "But there are only two interchanges here in Auburn serving twice the population."
Duggan said he expects construction to mobilize toward the end of May.
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