The project engineer for the Enzor Road Connector Project said he’s hoping for the road to be open within 75 days.

Project Engineer Tim Ramsden said the majority of the road network has been completed with the first layer of asphalt.

“I would hope that within the 75-day mark we’d be open,” Ramsden said. “The second layer [of asphalt] has still got to be laid and there’s a lot of clean up work that has to be done, but the traffic lights are in, the decorative lights have been installed and the grass is seeded and stabled.”

Ramsden said that current work on the project is working with the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) on connecting the road to US Highway 231, including the construction of a turn lane in the southbound lane and modifying the traffic lights.

There is also the matter of relocating utilities and storm drainage that Ramsden said would take a few more weeks to get finished.

The portion of the road that would connect the new road to U.S. 231 must still be paved as well, which Ramsden said would get done before the turn lane is installed or at the same time, depending on what the contractor wants to do.

The new road will extend George Wallace Drive to Enzor Road and Franklin Drive to Oak Park. The project consists of a total of 2.4 miles of new road.

Roadwork began in October last year and is on pace to end sometime in November.

The road will provide access to the Park Place Commercial Development that will house Publix, as well as several other retail stores. Publix is set to open in early 2017.

The contractor on the Enzor Road project, Grady Ralls & Sons, Inc., began work on the intersection this week and the city urges motorists to reduce speed and use caution while travelling through the construction zone.

Popeye’s and AT&T, which are adjacent to the project, will remain open during their regular business hours throughout the construction.