You can just imagine the surprise of the first driver who came along to the hole in Broad Street. And, for the weeks since, you can only imagine the worry, focus and time that has been spent working to get this hole, caused by a sewage line collapse — located on Selma’s busiest thoroughfare — fixed.

Such work should begin no later than Wednesday, thanks to action taken by the Selma City Council during their last council meeting.

During the meeting, the council approved emergency funding, giving Mayor George Evans the authority to spend nearly $60,000 on the project, originally caused by a collapsed sewage line.

“We are an old city — the third oldest in the state — and these things can and do happen from time to time,” Evans said. “We do have the project bid and they are set to begin work maybe tomorrow (Tuesday) but no later than Wednesday.”

The total bid amount came to $58,200 and was awarded to Mitchell Contracting. The good news for the city of Selma, since Broad Street is a state highway, the state is contributing a large portion of the funding.

“The $58,200 does include everything for the project and ALDOT (Alabama Department of Transportation) has committed $35,000 toward the project,” Evans said. “The rest of the money, we will be able to pull from the gasoline tax fund.”

The hole, which is located near the Pancake House on Broad Street, is in the middle of the two lanes, forcing drivers heading east on Broad Street to detour into the turning lane to avoid the emergency signals and barrels.

“You couldn’t ask for a worse spot for this to happen,” Evans said. “But, the good news is when they get their equipment in place — weather permitting — the project should not take too terribly long.”