Governor Kay Ivey joined state and local officials today to celebrate substantial completion of the nearly $52 million project to construct the final four-lane segment of U.S. 411 joining Etowah and Cherokee counties.
Three years after breaking ground on the project funded entirely with state dollars through Rebuild Alabama, Gov. Ivey returned to the site to cut a ribbon across the new highway, which will be opened to traffic Thursday, Nov. 30, weather permitting.
The project, which is still under construction but nearing completion, is relocating and expanding the U.S. highway on a new alignment west of the old two-lane roadway.
The nearly six-mile stretch of new highway between Turkeytown and Leesburg provides Cherokee County with its first four-lane connection to an interstate, completing the four-lane corridor from the county seat at Centre to Interstates 759 and 59 in Gadsden.
Though traffic is being transitioned to the new roadway, the area is still an active work zone. Remaining work items include completion of tie-ins, removal of temporary transitions, and installation of permanent striping and markers. Motorists are advised to drive with caution and be prepared for single-lane closures at times.
Birmingham-based Vulcan Materials began work on the $34.3 million construction contract following a groundbreaking ceremony on Nov. 16, 2020. The project included clearing, excavation, filling, construction of ten culverts, and construction of the aggregate base and asphalt paving. A corridor study in the early 1990s led to planning for two projects to relocate the two-lane U.S. 411 on a new, divided four-lane. A 7.4-mile segment between Gadsden and Turkeytown was completed in 2015 at a total cost of more than $58 million. The total cost of design, right-of-way acquisition, utility relocations and construction for both projects — covering 13 miles — is expected to be about $110 million.
