Schools
Commission Gives $900K To Complete Northport School Access Road
The $1.9 million project is expected to be complete by the time students return for the fall semester in August.
TUSCALOOSA, AL — The Tuscaloosa County Commission on Wednesday unanimously voted to contribute $900,000 to the Tuscaloosa County School System to help complete work on an access road and road expansion for the new Northport Intermediate School before it opens this fall.
TCSS Superintendent Keri Johnson provided an update to commissioners during their regular meeting, saying crews are 90% complete with the widening of Rose Boulevard leading to the school's entrance and work is steadily moving closer to the intermediate and elementary schools.
"They have obviously had to deal with the rain this summer, so they have just increased their work schedule to kind of outset the time they missed with the rain," she said.
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The overall price tag for the project, according to TTL Vice President Frank Summers, came out to $1.9 million with the low bid from Georgia-based GSC Construction. After the Commission's contribution, the school system will now cover $1 million of the cost of the project.
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"The school system accepted that bid and [GSC Construction] had a notice to proceed and they’ve been working ever since," Summers said. "Even though we’ve had historical rain amounts for June and it's obviously still raining, what they’ve done is work three and four crews and they have increased their number of crews to basically create productive days."
District 1 Commissioner Stan Acker, who represents the district where the schools are located, pointed to the progress made despite inclement weather and said the project actually came out cheaper than what was initially speculated.
"I think [the contribution] will give them some help with the project and kind of be a split to the project," he said.
The fall semester for the Tuscaloosa County School System is set to begin Aug. 12.
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