Phenix City officials should find out this fall whether a $250,000 appropriation for downtown and riverfront development has successfully made its way through Congress, U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers said Monday.

The appropriation, which was included in the Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill for fiscal year 2008, passed the U.S. House of Representatives last month.

The bill has yet to pass the U.S. Senate, which should take up the bill sometime this fall. The bill would then have to be signed into law by President Bush.

"We're looking at possibly November for it to get to the president," Rogers said while visiting the Phenix City riverfront near the 14th Street Bridge. "Then the money would be sent. As a general rule, there is an 18-month turnaround from the time we put an earmark request in and the money arrives. It's happened that way from year to year."

Phenix City plans to use the money to address overages in the Broad Street streetscapes project. The project will include widening the median and narrowing the street to promote a more pedestrian feel to one of the city's most traveled streets.

Visit

Rogers was making a quick tour of the southern part of the 3rd Congressional District, which includes Russell, Lee, Macon and Chambers counties. The congressman toured the Fort Mitchell Historical Site earlier in the day.

The site includes a welcome center, a rebuilt early 1800s Fort Mitchell, and a variety of assorted static and active representations of life during the fort's heyday in the 19th Century.

"It was my first time getting there," Rogers said. "I was very impressed with the facility. I have three small kids and I'm thinking about bringing them down to see it. It was also great to see the dedication of the people who volunteer down there. It's a great resource for Alabama and obviously for this region."

Rogers said he sees the development on the Phenix City riverfront as a future "destination point" for people in the region. He said an attraction such as Fort Mitchell would only enhance that project.

"I think it's going to be compatible with what's happening down here," he said, referring to planned developments on the riverfront including The Phenixian, a $35 million retail and residential development at the western end of the 14th Street Pedestrian Bridge.

"That's just a little added value with Fort Mitchell out there," Rogers said.