Shortages Affect Local Projects

Mobile, Fairhope, Gulf Shores and Foley are among Alabama cities feeling the slowdown in the global supply chain, AL.com reports. Critical materials needed to rebuild Texas Street in Mobile were slow to arrive, resulting in a delay to the project’s start by nearly two months. “Every single project we are dealing with, any contractor… is being challenged right now, whether it’s the availability of asphalt, concrete, lighting or streetlights,” Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson said. Foley is delaying the construction of restrooms at the city’s tennis courts at Mel Roberts Park, and Gulf Shores only recently received pickup trucks it ordered in January. Also in Gulf Shores, extra costs are affecting how it approaches some of its projects, with higher-than-budgeted bids leading to reevaluations and bid award delays and rejections. Fairhope Mayor Sherry Sullivan said her city has been forced “to keep more inventory and bid projects more than one time to make sure we are getting competitive bids. It has certainly made the wheels of government turn a little slower than normal.”