Metro Roundup: Patton Chapel Road bridge to stay closed into June

The bridge on Patton Chapel Road over Patton Creek is expected to be closed until June 21 as Jefferson County replaces and widens the bridge.

The completion date will depend heavily on the weather, Jefferson County Deputy Manager Cal Markert said.

The bridge, which is located in the 1600 block of Patton Chapel Road between Gwin Elementary School and Cornwall Road, was shut down on March 24.

About 18,000 vehicles travel on that stretch of road on the average day, Markert said.

The official detour route from U.S.31 is to go south on U.S. 31, turn right onto John Hawkins Parkway, right onto Galleria Boulevard and left onto Chapel Lane, which connects back with Patton Chapel Road at Gwin Elementary.

The Hoover school system, Hoover public safety and public works departments along with Santek, which provides garbage and recycling pickup, were all advised of the closing in advance so they could adjust routes for school buses, public safety and public works vehicles, and garbage and recycling trucks.

The county is both replacing and widening the bridge as part of an $11 million project to add a middle turn lane along a 1-mile stretch of Patton Chapel Road between Gwin Elementary School and Crayrich Drive.

The project also includes realigning Patton Chapel Road’s intersections with Preserve Parkway and Chapel Lane into one four-way intersection and building a 1-mile sidewalk from Crayrich Drive to an existing side-walk near Gwin Elementary.

The new bridge will include both bicycle and pedestrian lanes, Markert said. A house on Patton Chapel Road across from the Patton Creek Condominiums was torn down to accommodate the project.

The entire project is slated to be completed by the end of 2020, but will be contingent upon the weather, Markert said.

The project was originally expected to cost about $8 million, but ended up costing about $11 million, he said. Jefferson County and Hoover each are contributing $1.25 million, and the rest is coming from the federal government.