- Details
- By Tribal Business News Staff
- Economic Development
The Poarch Creek Indians have begun the first phase of a four-part road improvement project backed by $24 million in federal funding, starting construction more than two years after the grant was awarded.
The approximately $4 million first phase will widen lanes, add paved shoulders and rumble strips, resurface portions of Jack Springs Road and improve drainage infrastructure in Escambia County, Alabama. The tribe expects the full project to take about two years, with completion targeted for March 2028.
The Federal Highway Administration awarded the tribe $24.1 million for the project in 2024 using fiscal 2023 funding. The award, the largest federal roadway construction grant in the tribe’s history, was part of a round of federal investments in transportation projects on tribal and federal lands.
The funding later underwent a Department of Government Efficiency review after President Donald Trump returned to office, according to a tribal spokesperson. The tribe received its notice of award May 30, 2024, but did not receive a notice to proceed from the Federal Highway Administration until late 2025, Rodriguez said.
“This historic investment represents far more than improvements to a roadway,” Tribal Council Member Keith Martin said in a statement.
The project is intended to improve safety and emergency access while reducing flooding along the heavily traveled corridor. Planned improvements across the four phases also include sidewalks and intersection upgrades.
