Foley, Ala. — (OBA) —  Local contributions are helping Foley continue extending sidewalks on Cedar Street. The Foley City Council approved a memorandum of understanding with a developer to fund sidewalk extensions on Cedar Street, offering a practical alternative after sidewalk construction at the development site on Baldwin County Road 24 was deemed impractical. The project will extend pedestrian access to schools and parks along the corridor.

The council approved the MOU as part of a previously approved planned unit development phase in Live Oak Village. The agreement will provide funding to help pay for walkways on North Cedar Street from West Peachtree Avenue to Village Square Boulevard, a stretch of about 1,000 feet.

City Engineer Taylor Davis explained that Foley's Technical Design Manual requires developers to install sidewalks on streets within subdivisions. However, in this case, a sidewalk along Baldwin County Road 24—where the development is located—was impractical.

Baldwin County maintains County Road 24 and has no other sidewalks along that stretch. Connecting a sidewalk there to the rest of the city's walkway network would have required building a pedestrian bridge where the road crosses the Magnolia River near the airport.

Mayor Ralph Hellmich said the Cedar Street route simply makes more sense for Foley pedestrians. "If it had been built on 24, it would have gone from the northern entrance over to the bridge and stopped there. It would have gone nowhere," Hellmich said. "This makes more sense for everybody."

Once the new sidewalks are complete, Foley will have about three miles of connected sidewalks along Cedar Street, from Live Oak Village to Ninth Avenue. That corridor will provide pedestrian access to three schools and two public parks.