A project to add a multi-use path along Trojan Parkway and John H. Witherington Drive has been bid out and could start construction within the next two months.

The trail has long been planned as a Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) grant project for the city in conjunction with the Enzor Road Connector Project that the city completed in January.

“We originally had designed the grant for a trail all the way from Publix to Enzor Road, but the question came up of how the property would be purchased at Publix, so the first section was built into the Enzor Road Project,” said Tim Ramsden, engineer on the project.

As it is designed now, the project will create a multi-use path along all of John H. Witherington Drive and from Enzor Road to the intersection of John H. Witherington and Trojan Parkway.

The other section of Trojan Parkway already has a multi-use path along it as part of the Enzor Road Project.

The bid was awarded to low bidder Alabama Road Contracting Services out of Andalusia for $693,487.

The TAP Grant is an 80-20 match, meaning the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) would normally fund 80 percent of the project with a 20 percent match from the city. However, the maximum amount that ALDOT contributes is $400,000 leaving the city to fund the remaining $293,487, which is a 57 percent match from the state.

Mayor Jason Reeves said he’s happy to have $400,000 covered by the state and that this is a planned expense in the current budget.

“This will be a great path for people to use. It is multi-use for bikes, strollers, walking and jogging,” Reeves said.

Planning administrator Melissa Sanders said the multi-use path will function like a sidewalk and any future businesses that build on the side of the road with the path will have to cross the path to have access to the roadway.

The sidewalk will be made of asphalt, which Ramsden said was chosen because cement was “cost-prohibitive,” costing twice as much or more than using asphalt.

In other business the council:

• Rejected bids to provide labor for the changing out of equipment at two substations. Utilities manager Brian Chandler told the council that bids came back higher than expected, so the department is going to revise some of the specifications to bring the price down.

• Vacated a sewer easement at Industrial Park South.

• Held a first reading on an ordinance that would rezone 307, 309 and 311 Corman Avenue to commercial zoning so that McDonalds can expand parking at its location. McDonalds has purchased all three residences, which are all behind the business.

• Held a first reading on an ordinance that would annex a property into the City of Troy. Sanders said advanced mapping showed the property not to be in the city limits, although it had been supposedly annexed in 1979. The woman living there requested to be annexed into the city.

The Troy City Council will meet again on Tuesday, October 24 at City Hall. The executive committee will meet upstairs at 4 p.m. and the council will convene at 5 p.m. in the City Council Chambers.