Thomasville Times

Hwy. 5 detour will affect timber trucks, more


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Alabama Department of Transportation map shows closed section of Highway 5 between Sunny South and Pine Hill and the detour, via Highway 25 and Highway 10. The detour is about five to six miles longer.

Alabama Department of Transportation map shows closed section of Highway 5 between Sunny South and Pine Hill and the detour, via Highway 25 and Highway 10. The detour is about five to six miles longer.

The Alabama Department of Transportation will soon close a portion of Highway 5 from the Highway 25 intersection in Sunny South to the Moccasin Creek bridge project on Highway 5 in Pine Hill to through traffic so that the bridge project can be completed. The road will remain closed through April 15.

Initial plans called for the closure to start Jan. 2. However, a post on the Wilcox County E911 Facebook page said that it will start Monday, Jan. 16. That is Martin Luther King Day and a state holiday and could affect the start of the closure.

But a closure is coming, that is certain.

Signage will mark the closed road and the detour.

Through traffic will be detoured via Highway 25 and Highway 10. The detour is about five to six miles longer than going straight through on Highway 5.

The closure will impact all vehicular traffic but the greatest impact may be to the timber and other big trucks which use the route going to and from area mills such as International Paper, GD Copper, Thomasville Lumber, Alabama Timber Industries and even those to the south in Clarke County such as Louisiana Pacific, Westervelt, Canfor and PCA in Clarke County and Georgia Pacific in Claiborne in Monroe County.

Some vehicles may opt to use Wilcox County 27, the Leroy Randolph Road, which runs parallel to Highway 5 from Sunny South to Pine Hill but the county road is in poor condition and may not be able to sustain a lot of heavy truck traffic.

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