The Dallas County Commission voted Monday to put two Alabama Transportation and Improvement Program (ATRIP) projects up for bid to repair Dallas County Road 7.

Dallas County Engineer Coosa Jones said the projects, which will cover just over five miles, are much needed, and will be up for bid Friday.

“It’s a route to the south that a lot of people use, and we’ve had a lot of problems where we’ve had to do a lot of maintenance on it, so we’re trying to correct some of the problems to alleviate so much maintenance,” Jones said.

Jones said the project will involve planing, resurfacing and reconstruction, which will fix a failed slope on the hillside. The last time it had a major repair was 10 to 15 years ago.

He said the work will stretch from the intersection of County Road 7 and 62 all the way to Pleasant Hill where it intersects with County Road 12.

“It’s going to help a lot because the road right now has got a lot of potholes that have been fixed, and a lot of people use County Road 7 to get to Florida,” said Commissioner Valerie Reuben, whose district includes County Road 7. “When we do it, more people are going to really start traveling that road because it’s a major road.”

According to a proposal summary from the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT), the project will cost between $2 million and $2.4 million. Jones said the cost will be split between the county and state with the state paying 80 percent, and the county paying 20 percent.

Jones said he expects the project to start sometime later this summer. According to the proposal from ALDOT, the contract will be for a total of 165 working days.

According to Jones, the county has already completed four to five ATRIP projects and have three more to go. Those include more work on County Road 45 and County Road 85.

Dallas County Probate Judge and Commission Chairman Kim Ballard said the ATRIP projects the county has been able to complete have been a huge help.

The commission was hoping the state legislature would be able to pass a gasoline tax to raise money for even more road repairs in Dallas County, but it died in the session. The tax would have raised over $13 million for repairs to Dallas County roads.