A look ahead: Rubber hits the road for infrastructure projects
From debates on the location of new restaurants to the overhaul of the city’s recreation facilities, one thread can be found weaving its way through nearly every single public meeting held over the last year: infrastructure issues.
Traffic congestion, sidewalks, stormwater runoff and road conditions were all discussed at length by the city council at some point, many at their own dedicated meetings, and for several of the projects 2018 may be the year that tangible progress is made.
Stormwater Management
When asked about his first year in office, Mayor Ashley Curry remarked how the first half of his year was defined by drought, while the second half was defined by floods.
In fact, the greater Birmingham metro area was nearly 15 inches above average rainfall for 2017 as of press time — and at nearly double what was received in 2016.
That increase in rain brought to light several legacy and new stormwater management issues throughout the city, from known pipe failures to new runoff-management issues.
Dealing with the stormwater management issues is a three-fold endeavor: bringing on a new engineering technician, updating the ordinances the city has to meet the requirements of the MS4 permit the city obtained from ADEM and doing work on pipes and other identified pressure points.
In 2018, Downes said residents can expect movement on many of the more than two dozen public stormwater infrastructure issues identified in the latter part of 2017, projects which were budgeted in the 2018 fiscal year.
“You’re going to see action on many of these stormwater projects,” he said.
While the city staff will attempt to do some of the jobs, Downes said many of the projects are beyond the scope of what the city has time and resources to do in-house. In those cases, he said the city will contract with firms to get the work done. If below the $50,000 threshold that requires a public bidding process, Downes said he would go ahead with the funds allotted in the budget and execute the project, otherwise bids would come before the council for approval.
Either way, Downes said residents can expect a “steady drum beat” of stormwater infrastructure improvements over the next 12 months.
In July 2017, the city was approved for an MS4 permit from ADEM, a stronger stormwater management permit that mandates an overhaul of the city’s stormwater management requirements when it comes to development.
The process, he explained, will require reworking several of the city’s current building ordinances, as well as potential new ones.
“These ordinances will look at erosion control, illicit discharge into the stormwater system, post-construction controls and, on top of that, how we’re going to regulate that entire matter,” he said.
The goal is to not only reduce the volume of water running off, but to improve the quality of water that does make its way into the stormwater system.
“In doing that you have to look at several engineering facets, and the [development] engineers are going to have to be designing to manage that water on that site in a more detailed manner,” Downes said.
To enforce these ordinances, Downes said the city will rely on the extra manpower provided by the new engineering technician, which he hopes to have in place shortly after the first of the year.
Cahaba Beach Road
The Alabama Department of Transportation is studying options and environmental impacts of reconnecting U.S. 280 and Sicard Hollow Road via Cahaba Beach Road.
An Oct. 17 public involvement meeting, held at Liberty Park Middle School, was held for residents and interested citizens to see a narrowed list of proposed routes from Swan Drive to Sicard Hollow, all of which include a bridge over the Little Cahaba River, and share their comments.
There were four alternatives presented — an east, central and west option with a secondary east alternative — and the option not to build the road remains on the table as well.
Many of those who attended the public involvement meeting wore blue “no build” stickers expressing their opposition to the road project. Keeping the land between the existing Cahaba Beach Road and Sicard Hollow Road undeveloped was a primary concern, as well as protecting the river and drinking water source from potential pollution and runoff. The Cahaba Riverkeeper has led local efforts to oppose the development.
Though none of the construction would occur in Vestavia Hills, residents and council members are concerned that it would lead to increased traffic on Cahaba Heights Road, as well as impact Sicard Hollow Road and Grants Mill Road.
Based on the feedback, City Manager Jeff Downes said he would submit a letter to ALDOT asking for more information about how the project would impact Vestavia, and if there is any room for an agreement for other improvements to offset the impact.
Some environmental studies have begun but are not complete, and ALDOT East Central Region Engineer DeJarvis Leonard said intensive study of the environmental impact will not be done until a preferred route is selected. There are strict development requirements regarding runoff and river conditions, Leonard said, and, if the project goes to construction, it would meet all of those standards.
Leonard anticipated a full year of environmental study of the proposed project site, followed by more public hearings to present the results. Shumer Consulting is leading the environmental study aspect of the project.
Skipper Consulting planner Mickey Hall said Sicard Hollow Road currently serves about 5,000 cars a day but is expected to grow to 10,000-11,000 per day by 2040 even without the Cahaba Beach Road connection.
If the connection project was constructed, Skipper anticipated 13,000-16,000 cars per day by 2040, depending on which of the routes was chosen.
Other Road Improvement Projects
Several other road projects will see continued design work in 2018, including the beleaguered repaving effort for Massey Road.
Massey, which is considered a “cut through” road with some pedestrian activity and thereby eligible for federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) funding, needs $137,000 worth of repaving and structural work.
But being federally-funded, the project has to be approved by ALDOT, a hurdle that has proved difficult to jump so far.
At a November work session, Downes explained to the council that what he and the staff believed were final plans had been submitted to ALDOT in April 2017, but that the plans were rejected.
New standards of 11-foot lanes required a complete redesign of the project, and pushed the right-of-way and retaining wall needs further out.
Combined, Brady said the needs would likely push bidding and letting of the project far into 2018, if not even later.
Across town, Crosshaven Drive and East Street will likely see continued study and potential improvements after public traffic meetings in November.
Downes said there are several factors at work for improving the two sections of Crosshaven the city has jurisdiction of, the primary being the nearly $5 million price tag to fix both. Other than that, he said, the issue would be getting the necessary right of way and further studying to solidify the engineering.
For East Street, the immediate goal would be to coordinate with BUSA, which operates out of Rathmell Sports Park in Mountain Brook, to reduce the traffic on Tuesday nights.
The city could also look into building sidewalks on East Street to give residents a safe place to walk, a roughly $200,000 project from one end of the other. Doing so would also require right-of-way acquisition for part of the stretch, though redevelopment could make negotiations easier.
“Addressing those sidewalks would be a critical issue,” Downes said at the November council work session.