Florala merchants and residents are breathing a sigh of relief following Tuesday’s news that ALDOT has removed a U.S. Hwy 331 bypass from its 10-year construction plan.

Rebecca White, Alabama Department of Transportation spokesman, explained the reason as lack of funding.

“The bottom line is that there were too many projects being held in ALDOT’s letting schedule with no reasonable expectation of completion primarily due to the lack of available funding,” White said.

She said the Florala project was one of several removed from the plan.

“The new 10-year plan includes capacity projects that can be completed with the amount of funding expected to be received and additional projects that may be completed if more funding becomes available,” she said.

ALDOT officials held a public input meeting on the project earlier this year where the possible bypass was discussed. Then, residents expressed their displeasure at the idea; however, Tuesday, local residents like Suzanne McDonnell, Janice Smith, Joe Cassady and Jan Allred were pleased with to hear the project was put aside.

“Thank God,” Allred said.