An Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) official said he has serious concerns after newspaper errors with legal ads delayed four projects and cost taxpayers millions.
Last week, ALDOT revealed that the Pickens County Herald accidentally left out one of the agency's ads for bids on the final phase of the Gordo Bypass project. The Herald told 1819 News the error likely happened due to a corrupt file when the paper was sent to the printer.
During follow-up questions with ALDOT spokesman Tony Harris, 1819 News was told four other projects this year were delayed due to newspaper errors.
The Greene County Independent advertised a July 26 bid opening for two projects to maintain and resurface 14 miles of Interstate 20/59 in Greene County. However, Harris said the paper failed to advertise as required by law, which is in print once a week for three consecutive weeks. A provision allows the omission of one of the three required ads. The legislature added that provision in 2014 after advertising issues impacted several projects.
Harris said the project was delayed due to the Independent's error.
"This effectively causes ALDOT to miss this year's window for performing resurfacing work; these projects will be scheduled for bids in November with the work to be performed beginning in the spring of 2025 when warmer temperatures return," said Harris.
Greene County Independent acting editor Sharon S. Trammell told 1819 News another ad was inserted twice instead of the legal advertisement. The second printing was already published when the error was realized.
"There was no way to get two concurrent publication dates to comply with the law," Trammell said. "This was simply an error on our part."
The same thing happened with a September 27 bid opening advertised in The Northport Gazette. The project to maintain and resurface about seven miles of I-20/59 in Tuscaloosa County must be re-bid in December. Work will be performed in the spring of 2025.
Northport Gazette General Manager Paula Bryant took full responsibility for the mistake. She said she prepared the notice for publishing but accidentally dropped it into the wrong folder on the computer.
"On September 18 [one week late], ALDOT reached out to me and said that their clipping service noticed that the ad was not ran in the September 11 issue," Bryant explained. "That is when I searched and found out what had happened."
"We sincerely regret the mistake but could not change what had happened," she said. "I take the legal publications that run in my paper very serious because I know how important they are, you can ask anyone who publishes with us we do a good job."
Bryant said the small newspaper only has two employees, and they depend on legal ads.
"Legal publishing is a big deal for small newspapers. It is what keeps them afloat," Bryant said. "I wish I could have corrected the mistake, but once ALDOT notified me a week later, it was too late."
Harris said no legislators have contacted him about changing the bidding laws, but State Sen. Chris Elliott (R-Josephine) told 1819 News the law needs to be updated to require electronic advertisements instead of print.
"It's a serious concern that we encountered delays on four projects this year," Harris said. "In the case of the Gordo Bypass, the need to re-bid that project will result in about $1.7 million in additional costs."
Harris explained that the errors in The Northport Gazette and The Greene County Independent were discovered before the bids were open. The monetary loss due to the mistakes is unclear, but Harris said the projects will likely cost more than expected.
"We have scheduled those projects for bids in November and December," he said. "Experience tells us that the delay will likely result in higher bids."
"We will do a final review of current pavement conditions and if conditions have worsened, our project may require a more significant scope of resurfacing - specifically, a deeper milling of old asphalt and a thicker replacement layer. If that turns out to be necessary, we will see significant additional cost."
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email erica.thomas@1819news.com.
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