No new oaks for Foley highway

Proposed downtown renovations will include new sidewalks, curbing and lighting, but don’t look for live oaks along the city streets.

The Foley Downtown Historic Streetscape project calls for improvements in the area around the Alabama 59 and U.S. 98 intersection. Among the plans for the project was a canopy of live oaks over Alabama 59. The Alabama Department of Transportation, however, rejected putting the trees in the state right of way, said Mayor John Koniar.

“The highway department did go along with most things and got back with us very quickly, but they did say ‘no’ to live oaks,” Koniar said Tuesday. “We thought we had them set back enough, but they said nothing with branches that were not at least 16 feet off the ground would be allowed.”

No new oaks for Foley highway