What a Year in District 7!

Jan 2nd, 2017

Posted in: General News7

By Council President Gina Gregory – District 7

Over this past year, Mobile has been On the Move!

Major infrastructure projects are happening across the city, Airbus and Austal continue to thrive alongside small businesses that seem to be popping up everywhere and the cruise ship has returned!

A key part of this success is the revitalization of the city’s infrastructure. In 2015, my colleagues and I created the Capital Improvement Program and Fund to tackle infrastructure projects across the city. For years, the city had put off repairing sidewalks, streets, parks and more due to budget constraints. But now, as a result of the extension of the penny tax and the creation of this program, we are finally able to take them on. And, they are making all the difference!

This year, across our District, we rebuilt and resurfaced roads, took on major projects at our parks and recreation facilities, repaired and replaced sidewalks, and made a lot of headway towards solving longstanding drainage issues.

Rebuilding & Resurfacing Roads

The largest road project in District 7 this year was a major renovation of Old Shell Road, one of our District’s and the city’s key east/west traffic corridors. Our teams started with major repairs to the street’s storm drains to prevent puddling and flooding in the future before resurfacing and striping the entire piece that runs through our area.

Upgrades to Our Parks & Recreation Facilities

Good public parks and recreation facilities are key to creating healthy children and, in turn, strong communities. This year, we installed shade structures at both McCants-Chavers and Langan Parks. These structures make a huge difference for children and caregivers being able to make use of the parks during the hot summer months. We also had to address some drainage issues at recreation facilities including the Copeland-Cox Tennis Center, installed sidewalks and finally got the train at Langan Park repainted!

Spring Hill/Moorer Library

Right now, workers are putting the finishing touches on major repairs we undertook this year at the Moorer Library. The biggest of these was replacing the roof and drainage system which had significant problems creating a mildew smell throughout the library. Citizens shouldn’t have to deal with these sorts of issues at city facilities.

Sidewalks, Sidewalks, Sidewalks

In communities across the District, we have been working to repair or replace sidewalks to ensure pedestrians walkable paths.

Making Mobile More Beautiful

We also took on a number of projects to keep Mobile beautiful. From hosting community clean ups to partnering with the University of South Alabama in an effort to enhance the medians on city streets surrounding the school.

These projects are just the beginning. Many more have already taken place across the District and even more are to come in 2017 and beyond!