FROM STAFF REPORTS

Helena has secured the final dollars need to build a bypass around Helena&8217;s Old Town district.

The Alabama Department of Transportation will match federal funds of $8 million in an effort to alleviate the city&8217;s traffic woes.

Currently, residents&8217; only option of going in or out of the city is Alabama 261, or Helena Road. The 21/2- to 3-mile bypass will reroute traffic to Shelby County 52.

Besides the traffic to downtown stores and Buck Creek Park, Alabama 261 also has an elementary school and train tracks which slow traffic.

Consultant group Solid Civil Design has been contracted to do a study planning the exact route of the bypass. The study will take nearly 18 months to complete and then the project must pass environmental impact tests before construction can begin.

The road is expected to cost between $15 and $18 million