Southside bridge hearing set for Tuesday

The public will have an opportunity to give input on  a proposed project to restripe the northbound bridge on Alabama Highway 77 between Southside and Rainbow City.

A public meeting is set for 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Southside Community Center. It will be conducted by representatives of the Alabama Department of Transportation.

ALDOT representatives presented the plan to the Etowah County Commission last year that could alleviate some of the traffic congestion on the bridge, especially in the morning for those going to school and work

It includes a redesign that does away with one lane of traffic from Southside to Rainbow City and creates two lanes across the bridge.

A bottleneck is created when Alabama Highway 77 goes from two lanes to one as it crosses the bridge and then back to two.

The highway will be changed to two lanes in Southside, and that will continue through the traffic light at the Fowlers Ferry Road intersection, across the bridge and on the north side of it.

The bridge is wide enough to create two 10-foot lanes.

The left lane on the Rainbow City side has stobs to block the traffic, but those will be removed under the plan. A merge lane from Whorton Bend Road to northbound Alabama Highway 77 will be added, and the two lanes coming off the bridge will remain as two lanes going up the hill into Rainbow City.