SPANISH FORT, Ala. (WKRG) – Highway 31 is about to change a bit this month. More development creates busier roads, and the Alabama Department of Transportation stays ahead of additional growth.

“They know when the school is in this little section here and the intersection especially every morning between 7 and 7:45 a.m. is packed with vehicles,” ALDOT spokesman James Gordon said.

This is why a new traffic light will be installed on Eastern Shore Boulevard and on Highway 31. The new light should facilitate traffic in the Eastern Shore Center and near Rockwell Elementary School. Poles are up and lights began flashing yellow Thursday morning to alert drivers to the change.

“You’ll start to see a flashing yellow light and it needs to flash for 7-10 days maybe more and they’re telling me by the end of this month it will be fully operational and of course it will be ready for back to school school in August,” Gordon said.

A few miles east, a new traffic light is planned for Highway 31 and Bedrock Blvd, where the new Stonebridge Elementary School will open later this year. ALDOT says the light won’t come on back to school, but it’s next on their list. Over 400 new homes are planned near this stretch of Highway 31 in an area that is still a two-lane highway today.

“Hopefully the driving pattern will be better because it will be controlled and people will be able to move around it much easier and much faster,” Gordon explained.

ALDOT says additional traffic lights may be installed in the coming months and years as new developments expand east along Highway 31.