The current phase of the streetscapes project in Foley is nearly complete, except for one portion on U.S. 98.

“We are essentially through this phase of the Streetscapes project,” said City Engineer Butch Stokes, “with the exception of down on U.S. 98 where we have left out a section that has to be paved.”

According to Stokes, the section of U.S. 98 has not been completed yet because when the work on the sidewalks and parking areas was being done in that area, workers found where bad material had been used when the area was originally paved.

“We had to do a change order with the contractor. We dug out the bad material and hauled it off and put in crushed stone. We have been waiting for that to cure. There are times you can pave and times when you can’t and the temperature just hasn’t been conducive to us being able to go back out and pave. It has been either extremely cold or rainy. We are kind of waiting,” Stokes said.

The final paving in the uptown area will put the finishing touches on an area the city has put a lot of effort into revitalizing. According to Stokes, the work should be finished soon.

“We will be buttoning that up just as soon as possible,” said Stokes.

Stokes also said the city has further plans to revitalize some sidewalks in the area, but the work should not be as extensive as the project the city is wrapping up on U.S. 98.

“We will be doing some sidewalk repairs that haven’t been a function of the contractor, that is something the city has been doing. They are tearing some out right now. We will be doing some in front of the Cactus Café and in front of the building on the Southwest corner of Alston (Street) and (U.S.) 98 and we will be doing some on (Alabama) 59 in front of Wrights and down almost to in front of the cellular store down there where we have broken sidewalks,” Stokes said.

Even though the city is trying to make the uptown area look nicer, according to Stokes the city is still trying to stretch every dollar and get the most for their money.

“We are looking at trying to make it look uniform without spending a fortune,” Stokes said. He also said city employees are doing as much of they work as they can to save the city as much money as possible.

As time and money permit, Stokes said the city has hopes to continue the sidewalk projects and remodel  all of the alleyways like the one already completed behind the Hotel Magnolia. Stokes believes the council is committed to the Streetscapes project, even if the whole project takes longer than they had originally anticipated it would.

“Certainly I think the council has a goal to take care of all of the alleys through there, some of them are pretty rough, and ultimately to kind of dress up downtown as funding is available and as they can do it,” Stokes said.