The Alabama Department of Transportation’s Southwest Region will host a transportation planning meeting July 6 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
ALDOT is encouraging the public to attend, discuss and comment on the Statewide Transportation Plan. Comments received during the meeting “will help shape Alabama’s next Statewide Transportation Plan,” ALDOT said.
The plan evaluates the current transportation system and identifies improvement and maintenance strategies through 2050 to help meet the state’s economic development, transportation and sustainability goals. It also helps guide how transportation dollars are invested over the next 20 years.
According to ALDOT, the plan helps identify current and future transportation needs and priorities and supports investments that improve safety, mobility and economic growth. Alabama’s transportation infrastructure includes highways, transit, rail lines, bicycle and pedestrian operations, freight operations, airports and waterways.
Transportation planning decisions can affect residents in several ways, including safer roads and bridges, reduced congestion, better freight movement that supports jobs and businesses, improved hurricane evacuation routes, project improvements that support economic development, better access for walking, biking and transit where appropriate and preservation of existing infrastructure before it deteriorates.
ALDOT said public input is “a critical part of the planning process” because it helps the department identify transportation needs, challenges and priorities that may not be evident through data and engineering studies alone.
The meeting will use an informal open house format. ALDOT representatives will be available to answer questions and hear concerns. Provisions will be made to receive comments at the meeting.
“Public input gathered during the meeting will help identify transportation priorities and future needs in the Southwest Region,” ALDOT said.
Anyone with disabilities who needs special assistance should contact ALDOT at 251-470-8200 at least five business days before the meeting and specify the type of assistance needed.
The meeting will be held at the ALDOT Southwest Region Training Building, Building T, 1701 I-65 West Service Road North in Mobile.
The Southwest Region includes Baldwin, Clarke, Choctaw, Conecuh, Escambia, Marengo, Mobile, Washington and Wilcox counties.
