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City Council hears update on BJCTA, pedestrian bridge

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Photo courtesy of Cinnamon McCul

The long-awaited pedestrian bridge has an updated timeline.

Vestavia Hills City Manager Jeff Downes told the Vestavia Hills City Council on Feb. 13 that the project, which will connect the Vestavia Hills Library in the Forest to Wald Park, is scheduled to go out to bid in February 2024. Design work should be finished this August, he said. 

At the next council meeting, the council will consider revised contract terms for the project, Downes said.

Paige Coker, the city’s representative on the Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority board, gave an update to the city on the authority’s work. Coker was recently elected vice president of the board and said there is no change to the city’s contract from last year.

Meetings will be held across municipalities this year as the authority seeks to increase the amount of micro-transit and plan transportation around economic development and walking trails, Coker said. The authority recently received about $20 million in grants, allowing for the purchase of capital equipment and services.

Coker also told the council they are seeking to expand paratransit services, which helps elderly residents and those with disabilities.

The council approved a $150,000 supplemental appropriation for the forthcoming Vestavia Hills Sports Hall of Fame. The estimated cost of the project is just more than $135,000 and the city budgeted $75,000 for it. The city also received a $50,000 donation from the community services fund after advocacy by state Senator Jabo Waggoner.

In other news, the council:

Following the meeting, the city held a reception for Vestavia Hills resident Mike Bolin, now-retired justice of the Alabama Supreme Court. Bolin served from 2004-2022, and had a 35-year career serving the state’s judicial system.

Bolin announced his retirement prior to the election last year and was replaced by another Vestavia Hills resident, Greg Cook.

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