Foley, Ala. — (OBA) —  A new pedestrian path is planned for south Foley to connect existing walkways and provide access to schools and other amenities. The Foley City Council has approved a professional services proposal to design a pedestrian path along 9th Avenue from South Pine Street to Alabama 59. Construction is scheduled to begin in early 2027.

Taylor Davis, Foley City Engineer, said the project will connect walkways built with federal Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) funds.

"We completed the TAP grant sidewalk in front of the high school on 9th Avenue two or three years ago, and we're just now completing the TAP grant on 59. So this would connect over there to it," Davis said.

The proposed 9th Avenue project would extend approximately 1,400 feet from Alabama 59 to the northeast corner of the Foley High School campus. The path is designed to connect the highway sidewalks to walkways that provide access to Foley High School, the Aaronville community, and Florence B. Mathis Elementary School.

The city is also completing a separate sidewalk on Alabama 59 between Pride Drive and Azalea Avenue. That segment is the final section of a larger project that provides four miles of walkways along the highway through central Foley, from Miflin Road (Baldwin County 20, south of the Tanger Outlet Center) to Peachtree Avenue.

That planned connection would also link the Alabama 59 walkways to the sidewalks along Cedar Street. Walkway construction on Cedar Street has already provided pedestrian access from 9th Avenue north to West Peachtree Avenue, about three miles. The City Council recently approved additional construction to extend the Cedar Street sidewalk system to Village Square Boulevard.