DECATUR, Ala. (WHNT) — After more than two years of construction, a major road project in Decatur is finally wrapping up. The City of Decatur says the overpass above Highway 20 in Decatur at Bibb-Garrett Road will open to the public on Friday, June 2nd.
While the majority of Decatur is in Morgan County, the City of Decatur owns a small section of land on the east side of the Tennessee River in Limestone County. That area in Limestone County includes the section of Highway 20 where the overpass was built.
The overpass location on Highway 20 is less than one mile from where Highway 20 merges into I-565 at the I-65 interchange.
Construction on the overpass project started in March of 2021. However, the battle for funding for the project goes back several years.
According to Decatur City Council President, Jacob Ladner, the City applied for and was awarded a $15 million dollar federal building grant, in 2018.
“We received $15 million dollars from the federal government to fund the project,” Ladner said. “We were awarded that primarily for the safety concerns” he added.
Ladner said prior to the construction project, that area was dangerous for drivers. Especially, as Highway 20 and I-565 became major highways.
“There were multiple fatalities,” Ladner said. He added that the main reason the City received the grant funding was to address safety concerns.
In addition to increased safety, drivers can look forward to driving through that area for the first time in more than two years, without having to deal with it being a construction zone.
Ladner said that will be a plus for the thousands of people that commute between Decatur and Huntsville every day. “I know people are excited about that [the construction zone] kind of going away,” Ladner added.
The City of Decatur has also talked on multiple occasions about expanding into the land it owns on the East side of the Tennessee River. Ladner said he thinks the area nearby the overpass is a great start.
“There’s just not a lot of places in the state, maybe even the whole country where you have intersecting interstates, essentially that are undeveloped,” he said. “So I think we’ll start to see a lot of activity from people interested in potentially developing this area.”
In addition to the grant funding, the City of Decatur has also paid about $5 million dollars toward the construction costs.
Kyle Demeester, the Chief Financial Officer for the City of Decatur told News 19 that the estimated project total is $20,433,303. Demeester said the final total cost of the project will be available after construction completely wraps up, and final invoices come in.
In addition to the overpass itself, the $20 million dollars also paid for access roads and two roundabouts.
As of Wednesday, May 31, “Road Closed” signs still appeared at all of the access points to the new overpass and access roads. The City of Decatur anticipates the roads will open on June 2nd, however, drivers should continue to heed all closure signs.
