City of Cullman hopes traffic signal will creates safer park access

May 10—The city of Cullman is hoping the installation of a new traffic signal at the corner of Main Avenue and Sheraton Road in southwest Cullman will create safer, more convenient access to Heritage Park.

Mayor Woody Jacobs said the city has already acquired the vacant parking lot at the location which has served as a third, unofficial entrance to the park.

"It is directly across from the soccer fields and in the fall when soccer and football are starting ... a lot of people will park there because the other parking lots will get full and because of the convenience of parking there. It's chaos the way people will cross the street right there, not necessarily in an orderly or safe fashion," Jacobs said.

The bid for installing the signal was awarded to Stone and Sons Electrical Contractors Monday, May 6, for the budgeted amount of $204,262. However, production delays will push the installation for approximately 22 weeks according to Council President Jenny Folsom. While this puts workers in the area during the fall, when the area is most frequently used, councilmember Clint Hollingsworth said he believes the signal would be a blessing to families once completed.

"Any of us who have had kids playing football, soccer, baseball or whatever, know that everybody is always trying to get there crossing at the same time. Especially when it gets dark, this will be fantastic once it gets done," Hollingsworth said.

With crowds of two major annual events having coexisted during the weekend, the council given a final update from organizers Monday, May 6.

Cullman Parks, Recreation and Sports Tourism Director Nathan Anderson said the transition into what has now become the statewide Alabama Strawberry Festival was an overwhelming success.

Anderson said he felt as though the looming chance of inclement weather during the first day of the event on Friday potentially deterred a few would-be festivalgoers. However, preliminary counts put the number of visitors in the vicinity of 45,000, nearly doubling last year's numbers.

Jacobs pointed to the symbiotic relationship which has blossomed between the annual spring celebration and local farmers who supply the festival's namesake strawberries.

"Those [farmers] are the ones who make it to where we can have the strawberries to sell, but that happens because of this event. It's not any fun to grow them if you can't sell them," Jacobs said. "It's kind of a two-way deal."

Anderson said he leaned more heavily on that relationship in preparation for the extended two-day event than he had in previous years. While he said the supply did eventually run out, 1,500 more gallons of strawberries were sold than any previous strawberry festival.

"We really challenged the farmers to step up their production and a couple of them really took that to heart and they brought in more strawberries than they ever have, but we still sold out," Anderson said.

While the Strawberry Festival may have pulled larger crowds, an estimated 6,000 people attended the 2024 AHSAA State Track and Field 1A-3A just a few blocks away at Cullman High School.

City clerk Wes Moore spearheaded organizing efforts for the meet and said 11 state records were broken during the weekend.

In other business the council:

— Awarded the bid to purchase a 4WD, crew cab work truck to Voyles Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram of Birmingham for $65,448.50.

— Entered an agreement with the Alabama Department of Transportation for sidewalk maintenance at the North Cullman Shopping Center.

— Amended its rules regarding employee take-home vehicles to allow for 30-miles, one-way or 60-miles, round trip each day.

— Appointed Public Safety Director Brian Bradberry to the 911 Board.

— Appointed Pat Sharpton to the Tree Commission.

— Appointed Dennis Reed to the Personnel Board.

— Appointed Ricky Browning to the Wellstone Mental Health Board.