Issue Position: Infrastructure & Economic Development
Issue Position
I have a bold plan for District 3 infrastructure and economic development. These ideas will put Shoals residents back to work, attract businesses, and improve safety and quality of life for the citizens. My ideas include:
Build overpasses for traffic at the railroad tracks on Avalon Avenue and Montgomery Avenue. Ground level crossings for railroad tracks are a huge safety concern in our district for both the railroad company and the citizens. Thousands of labor hours are wasted in our district each day as citizens patiently wait for trains to roll by. Students and faculty at Northwest-Shoals Community College all regularly get stuck waiting on the train to cross the road. For around $20 million each, we could eliminate these ground level crossings by building overpasses that would also increase traffic flow and quality of life. This has been a problem for decades and it is time to fix the problem.
Turn the Colbert Steam Plant industrial site into a useable site for automobile manufacturing (or another similar use.) This location has access to major highways and the Tennessee River, and several automobile manufacturers are already rumored to be looking at using the property for this purpose.
Establish a port authority at the Colbert Steam plant location. This site can hold 70 barges at once, which creates a huge opportunity for our local farmers. Currently, the Co-ops are spending around 30 cents per bushel to truck grain to Memphis so it can be loaded onto barges headed to the Midwest. I believe that if we have the capability to ship the grain out on barges ourselves, our local famers could improve their razor-thin profit margins.
Develop the old International Paper site into a useable industrial site. Recruit a company to repurpose this location and bring manufacturing jobs back to the Shoals.
I want to keep our tax dollars at home so they work for us. Right now, the major infrastructure projects are going to Birmingham, Montgomery, and Mobile. I will make sure that District 3 will get its fair share of infrastructure projects.
Source