Work will soon begin on new walkways designed to connect the Mills Community in west Foley with other areas of the city.
The Foley City Council recently voted to seek bids for construction of a sidewalk that will link the future Mills community park with existing city walkways and nearby neighborhoods.
Residents of Mills voted in 2023 to annex into Foley. Since that time, city officials have worked with community leaders and property owners to develop plans for the sidewalk and park project.
Mayor Ralph Hellmich said the project required extensive coordination because of narrow rights of way and drainage concerns.
“This has been about three years worth of work to get the rights of way,” Hellmich said. “Those rights of way out there are very narrow, about 40 feet. It’s a challenge to get a sidewalk in there and we had to address drainage.”
Hellmich said residents are excited to see the project moving forward.
“Our ultimate goal is to tie it back along Airport Road, back to the Cedar Street complex, or at least get it to where our path ends at Hickory,” Hellmich said. “That way, we’ll have connections to other parts of our community.”
Taylor Davis, Foley city engineer, said the sidewalk will extend along Little Rock Road, Dailey Lane, a section of Baldwin County 65 and Mills Road before ending at the site where the community park will be built.
“We’ve had over two dozen parcels and over a dozen owners, right of way challenges and drainage issues that we’ve battled through the years,” Davis said. “We got approval from the owners, and now we’re ready to go to bid.”
Hellmich praised Davis and other city employees for working closely with residents to advance the project.
“Taylor and everyone have done very good work, working with the community group out here to acquire these approvals,” Hellmich said. “We’re getting easements in and some just outright rights of way. This is a really big project.”
Davis said employees in the city’s Leisure Services Department, including Executive Director David Thompson, also played an important role in working with residents and community leaders.
“David has done a lot of work with the community and with the Mills community leaders and those churches out there,” Davis said. “They’ve done the groundwork. They’ve done the heavy lifting.”
The Mills Community Church Organization also helped move the project forward by facilitating meetings between residents and city officials throughout the planning process.