The Tuscaloosa County Road Improvement Commission has received monthly deposits from tax revenue collections since September 2016, with a current cash balance of approximately $2,290,000 as of April 8, 2017. No bonds have been issued to the Commission to date, and the Commission does not anticipate the issuance of any bonds to it in the second quarter of 2017 but will continue to pursue any and all available local, state, and federal funding mechanisms for priority project completion.

Reimbursement to the City of Northport for the Mitt Lary Road improvements began in January 2017. The Commission and Northport entered into an agreement for the Commission to repay Northport by monthly payments of $200,000. As of the end of April, $800,000 will have been disbursed to Northport for this project.

The Commission entered into a cooperative agreement in 2016 with the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) to support work on priority projects, as outlined in the Commission’s enabling legislation, Act 2015-202 (HB 600: Transforming Tuscaloosa Infrastructure.) In addition to beginning its reimbursement to the City of Northport for the Mitt Lary Road improvement project, the status of such priority projects are as follows:

• The Commission entered into a funding agreement with the City of Tuscaloosa in the amount of $1.8 million for US-82 improvements from approximately Midtown Village through and including the Hargrove Road intersection. Additional agreements with the City have also been executed for McWrights Ferry Road and Jack Warner Parkway/Martin Luther King Boulevard improvements but no final design or final costs have been determined. The City of Tuscaloosa will be managing and providing the up-front funding for these three projects, with TCRIC to reimburse the City for these project costs. 

• The Commission entered into a funding agreement with Tuscaloosa County in the amount of $2.5 million for the intersection improvements at US-82/McFarland and Bear Creek Cutoff Road, with the Commission paying an additional $883,000 in costs. The project was let in November 2016, and Notice to Proceed was issued by ALDOT in March 2017. 

• The Commission has reimbursed the City of Northport $200,000 in design and environmental costs and for initial right-of-way appraisals and acquisitions for improvements to the intersection of SR-69N and Union Chapel Road. The project is anticipated to let as early as September 2017. 

• Work on turn lanes at SR-69 North and Martin Road is anticipated to let prior to September 2017. Tuscaloosa County is providing up front funding for this Commission project, with ALDOT funding initial right-of-way acquisition. 

• ALDOT’s regional office is preparing to submit 60% design plans on SR-69 South from Plantation Road to I-59. The Commission has provided initial funding for preliminary design work in the amount of $900,000. The project could let as early as November 2017. 

• Other improvements to US-82/McFarland Boulevard are continuing in preliminary design work, consistent with ALDOT’s planned project to reduce congestion and improve traffic flow along US-82. The Commission has provided initial funding in the amount of $600,000 for portions of the preliminary design and engineering costs. Additional information and display maps can be viewed here: http://rp.dot.state.al.us/US82/.

As of April 2017, the Commission has disbursed over $3,300,000 toward priority projects.