Walkway planned on Prestwood Bridge Road

Andalusia residents will soon be able to walk from one side of town to the other and beyond on sidewalks, thanks to a Transportation Alternative Program (TAP) grant.

Mayor Earl Johnson said the Alabama Department of Transportation notified the city this week that it has been awarded $382,206 for the sidewalk project.

The project will extend sidewalks on Dunson Street and Church Street from the intersection of Snowden to the bypass, connect those two sidewalks on the bypass, and construct a new sidewalk on Prestwood Bridge Road to Rosewood Lane (formerly known as Blueberry Hill).

“Pedestrians will be able to cross the bypass, and continue on the sidewalk on Dunson Street,” Johnson said. “For the first time ever, there will be safe sidewalks from one side of Andalusia to other.”

The city will be required to provide 20 percent matching funds for the project, and pay design and engineering fees.

Johnson said there is a two-year window that begins with the city’s first meeting with the DOT to complete the project.

“It won’t be immediate, but it is going to happen,” Johnson said.

The Prestwood Bridge Road sidewalk will be on the Country Club side of the road, and residents will be consulted as the project is completed, he said.