Inquirer: Stadium Drive no longer bumpy link in town

I know. I know. I’m not Mike Owen.

I tried to Google some catchy sayings in hopes of maybe disguising myself, but instead I just decided to update an Inquirer he did more than two years ago.

Stadium Drive has new life.

In the initial Inquirer, Owen compared one of the main roads in Phenix City to Tiger Woods, saying it’s been patched up more than his image.

Now? Well, it’s as slick as deer guts on a door knob. (How did I do, Mike?)

The road that provides a link between U.S. 280/431 and Summerville Road was paved during the month of August.

John Gwin, the assistant city engineer, said it was a two-part project that took a lot of planning.

In case you don’t remember from 2011, the project was being funded by a combination of state, federal and local funding, and there was the hiccup of having to negotiate with Norfolk Southern because it crosses the rail line.

Gwin said the city switched its funding sources at one point to take advantage of some federal money through the Department of Transportation.

“It was not ‘start over’ but ‘switch gears,’” Gwin said.

The first part of the project was the intersection of Stadium Drive and South Railroad Street. The city knew it was battling a deadline with school around the corner — Phenix City Intermediate is on the corner of those two streets — but the project was finished before Phenix City Schools were back in session.

The projects included paving, sidewalk work, some traffic signals, some curb work, a few concrete drives and fixing the major issues below the bumpy surface.

“The funding for the project was 80 percent state and federal share and 20 percent from local government,” Gwin said.

Future projects coming up for Phenix City, he said, are resurfacing and improving Fifth Street South, Crawford Road and Airport Road.

More from the Ledger Inquirer:

Inquirer: Good news and bad on Veterans Parkway

Ledger-Inquirer: Finally, the slick surface of the covered bridge is gone

Inquirer: Reader would like city to remove 'dilapidated' house

Have a problem? Don’t look at me. Mike’s your man. Email him at mowen@ledger-enquirer.com.

This story was originally published September 9, 2013 at 7:19 AM with the headline "Inquirer: Stadium Drive no longer bumpy link in town."