Mobile city crews have wrapped up a resurfacing project on Ann Street, giving one of the city’s most heavily traveled and long-neglected corridors a fresh driving surface after years of complaints from residents about potholes and deteriorating pavement.
The work, completed in early July, used a technique new to Mobile in which crews grind down the existing top layer of roadway, add a filament-reinforced inlay, and then resurface the street. District 2 Councilman Levon Manzie pushed for the approach after learning it had been used as a cost-effective stop-gap measure for aging streets in Pittsburgh. A full reconstruction of Ann Street had been estimated at roughly $8 million, a price tag that made a complete rebuild unlikely in the near term.
Manzie brought the idea to Mayor Sandy Stimpson and City Engineer Nick Amberger, and the city moved forward with the project soon after. City crews carried out the resurfacing work during some of the hottest weeks of the summer, finishing the job in time for the Fourth of July holiday. Manzie had fielded years of requests from constituents to address the street’s condition, and residents who regularly drive the corridor have welcomed the improved surface.
While Ann Street has gotten a facelift, two proposed developments on nearby streets have generated far more debate among neighbors.
A real estate firm has proposed building a Dunkin’ Donuts on Government Street near Dexter Avenue, not far from where a Krispy Kreme once operated before closing and being replaced by a Dairy Queen. The firm behind the Government Street project has put its plans on hold for now amid pushback from nearby residents. Neighbors say their concerns center not on the brand of doughnut but on the practical effects of another drive-thru restaurant in the corridor, including additional traffic, noise, litter and the potential loss of mature oak trees that line the street. A second Dunkin’ Donuts location has also been proposed for Springhill Avenue, drawing similar attention from residents who live nearby.
Mobile’s tree canopy, particularly the oaks along the eastern end of Government Street, has long been a point of civic pride, and development proposals that could require removing them tend to draw quick scrutiny from neighborhood groups regardless of what business is planned for the site.
A separate zoning dispute is playing out on Old Shell Road near Lavretta Park, where a new restaurant has been proposed on the site of the former Rester Brothers auto repair shop. Shaul Zislin, who owns The Hangout in Gulf Shores and The Gulf in Orange Beach, is seeking to purchase the property to build a restaurant with seating for up to 80 guests inside and another 80 in an outdoor courtyard.
Residents spoke before Mobile’s Board of Zoning Adjustment on Monday, July 10, to raise concerns about the proposal, even though it would replace a vacant commercial property with a sit-down restaurant rather than another fast-food or auto-related business. The board held over its vote on the project until August 7, giving neighbors and the developer additional time before a decision is made.
The debates over the Government Street and Old Shell Road proposals reflect a broader tension many Mobile neighborhoods face: residents frequently say they want to avoid additional drive-thru restaurants, auto shops or discount retailers moving into vacant commercial sites, but new development of any kind, even higher-end options, often draws organized opposition from nearby homeowners. City officials and the Planning Commission continue to field competing pressures from residents who want vacant properties redeveloped and those wary of the traffic, noise or environmental impact that can come with new construction.
For now, Ann Street stands as a rare example of a long-requested infrastructure fix coming to fruition, even as the fate of the Government Street Dunkin’ Donuts and the Old Shell Road restaurant remain open questions for the neighborhoods surrounding Lavretta Park and the city’s Midtown corridor.