Exclusive Interview: Ala. Gov. Bob Riley Talks To NorthEscambia.com About Opening Of Highway 113

November 10, 2008

The ribbon will be cut Wednesday official opening the newly widened Highway 113 from Flomaton to I-65. NorthEscambia.com recently spoke with Alabama Gov. Bob Riley about the joint Alabama-Florida project to provide a better hurricane evacuation route for both states.

riley.jpg“Highway 113 is really going to be an asset to both Alabama and Florida,” Gov. Riley told NorthEscambia.com in an exclusive interview. “There’s the obvious, with the hurricane evacuation route, and there are the potential economic benefits.”

The four lanes on Alabama Highway 113 from Flomaton, Alabama, to I-65 will provide a four lane evacuation route from Highway 29 in Pensacola and North Escambia all the way to the interstate.

The 14 mile widening project broke ground on September 11, 2007. Escambia County, Florida, contributed $4 million to the project. Flomaton and Escambia County, Alabama, each contributed $500,000 with the state of Alabama and the federal government picking up of the rest of the nearly $23 million tab.

“This all started with the request of an Alabama mayor,” Riley said of the project that began with Mayor Dewey Bondurant in Flomaton. “Now people all over the country will point to this project as an example of cooperation between states. Both Alabama and Florida truly worked together to get this done.”

“This is a project have immense benefits to both Alabama and Florida,” Riley told NorthEscambia.com. “I think you will begin to see economic growth in both states as a result of this project.”

The ribbon cutting for Highway 113 will take place Wednesday morning in Flomaton, with Riley and a host of other state and local officials from both Alabama and Florida.

Pictured top: These barrels on Highway 113 at Highway 29 are now gone. Pictured inset: Alabama Gov. Bob Riley just before his exclusive interview with NorthEscambia.com. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.

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