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Council holds public involvement meeting for pedestrian bridge

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Neal Embry

Neal Embry

After more than a decade of planning, the pedestrian bridge over U.S. 31 connecting the Vestavia Hills Library and Wald Park is moving forward, with a public involvement meeting being held at the April 8 Vestavia Hills City Council meeting.

Blair Perry with Gresham Smith, who is overseeing the project, said the bridge’s aesthetic design will match the stone look of both the library and City Hall. No landscaping will be performed as part of the project, but the city will add landscaping later as part of the improvements at Wald Park. The railing will include LED lighting, and Perry said architects are working on adding city-related signage.

Police Chief Dan Rary said the bridge’s design will not allow for people to throw anything off of it or fall off.

The bridge is ADA-compliant, Perry said, and will help improve the mobility and safety of crossing U.S. 31, improve access to the library and Wald Park and will link to existing city sidewalks.

Earlier in the meeting, council member Kimberly Cook announced the list of candidates for the upcoming vacancy on the Vestavia Hills Board of Education. The interviews are scheduled for April 10 and April 16. The candidates are: Mark “Todd” Bailey, Scott S. Brown, Jaclyn Hudson, Corey Milner, French McMillan, Tealla Stewart, Brian Demarco, Jeffrey M. Florio and Steven Shepherd.

City Manager Jeff Downes told the council the new athletic fields at Cahaba Heights would be the first of the Community Spaces projects to reach the bid stage, and a presentation of construction plans is scheduled to be presented at the April 15 work session. Downes also said plans for Crosshaven Drive widening are about 90 percent complete, and that about 65 percent of the 20 miles of street paving that is a part of the Community Spaces plan is finished.

Downes also told the council the city received a low bid from Gillespie Construction for the Liberty Park tunnel project, but the bid was about $300,000 over the estimated cost, due to the “unanticipated” cost of moving a water main, which must be done. The entire cost of the project was estimated to be between $400,000 and $500,000 before the increase was submitted in Gillespie’s bid, Downes said.

“There might have been some miscommunication between the consultant and the Birmingham Water Works board,” Downes said.

It’s possible there is more federal funding available, Downes said, and the council will be able to decide at a later date how they want to proceed. The city is responsible for 20 percent of the cost of the project, Downes said.

In other business, the council approved the dedication of the rest of Lake Parkway in Liberty Park to the city of Vestavia Hills, making all of Lake Parkway a public road. Portions of the road, as well as Liberty Parkway and portions of River Run Lane, were previously made public last summer.

The city is responsible only for the road itself, not any of the landscaping, Downes said, and police will now be able to patrol the road.

The council also passed a resolution supporting Alabama House Bill 41, which would regulate the advertising and sale of alternative tobacco products like regular tobacco. The bill has passed the Alabama House of Representatives and, as of April 9, awaits debate in the state senate.

The council also:

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