From left, State Representative Tracy Estes, Double Springs Mayor Elmo Robinson, Winston County High School Principal Jeff Cole and State Representative Tim Wadsworth at the dangerous intersection of County Road 24 at Highway 33.
DOUBLE SPRINGS - One fiscal year after just over $1 million in funding was announced to correct a dangerous intersection at Highway 33 and County Road 24 in Double Springs, another $400,000 has been awarded for the same project.
Winston County was awarded a $1,009,904.50 grant in the 2022 round of Alabama Transportation Rehabilitation and Improvement Program II, or ATRIP II funding. On January 31, Governor Kay Ivey announced the first round of ATRIP II awards in the fiscal year 2023 allotment, including the additional $400,000 to add a left turning lane and extend the right turn on Highway 33 at County Road 24, where individual, industrial and school traffic converge at certain times of the day.
Traveling on Highway 33 from Double Springs, a right turn onto County Road 24 will take drivers to the campuses of the Winston Career Academy, Double Springs Middle School and Winston County High School.
A left turn at the same intersection off Highway 33 onto County Road 24 will take drivers to the industrial park, where four to five manufacturing plants are located.
The new turning lane on 33 traveling toward Double Springs will be on the left, allowing motorists to more easily turn onto County Road 24 toward the schools, the Alabamian stated in its initial article about this project, which appeared in the January 26, 2022, edition. The deceleration lane traveling north on 33 will be extended, with a new acceleration lane added to the right side of County Road 24 as it meets 33 coming from the schools, officials further explained.
The intersection is congested with traffic at certain times of the day, and has been the site of some accidents, including a fatal one, town officials recalled.
State Representative Tim Wadsworth was asked why the project has not already begun, since the first funding announcement was made over two years ago.
“They were $400,000 short in funding, and they needed additional funding,” Wadsworth responded. “The bids came in too high. When they came in too high, we had to go back and do additional funding.
“The additional $400,000 was placed in the budget to go with the other funds to do that turning lane,” Wadsworth added.
“These are funds that are only allowed to be used on state highways or roads that are connected to state highways,” he noted.
See complete story in the Northwest Alabamian.
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