The Vestavia Hills City Council approved a nearly $90,000 contract with Sain Associates to design a right turn on Rocky Ridge Road at the road's intersection with Dolly Ridge Road. Jefferson County will pay the construction cost.
The Vestavia Hills City Council on Monday night approved spending roughly $90,000 for design of an intersection improvement in the Rocky Ridge community.
The city hired Sain Associates to design a right-turn lane on Rocky Ridge Road at the road’s intersection with Dolly Ridge Road. The city is paying only for the design work, and Jefferson County will pay for construction of the turn lane because both of those roads are county roads, City Manager Jeff Downes said.
That intersection has been identified as a priority intersection for the city for some time as part of a study done in conjunction with the Regional Planning Commission, Downes said.
Councilman George Pierce said the turn lane should make a major difference on improving traffic flow in that area.
A vote on the design contract was expected to be delayed until Feb. 24 after the Jan. 27 City Council meeting was canceled due to sickness, travel and lack of a quorum. But council members chose to skip the first reading of the resolution Monday night and immediately consider the matter to get the design process started.
The goal is for the county to put the project out for bid this summer, and the project should take another six months to a year to be completed, Downes said. It will take a while because right of way needs to be acquired, and overhead utilities must be relocated, he said.
There is an underground water line on the same property, but the city and county believe it would be best to leave the water line under the turn lane if that is acceptable to the Birmingham Water Works Board, records show.
Downes said this intersection improvement project should also align the intersection with the sidewalk network in that area.
The City Council also on Monday night approved an update of the city’s sidewalk construction master plan, identifying 4.7 miles of proposed priority areas for new sidewalks.
The new plan is very similar to the city’s previous sidewalk plan, but there were a change or two or made due to public input while the plan was being reviewed in recent months, City Engineer Ethan Fisher said.
One of those was adding a small section of Dolly Ridge Road on the east side of U.S. 280 as a priority area for a sidewalk addition, Downes said.
Other priority areas are Massey Road, Shades Crest Road, various spots along Dolly Ridge Road closer to Vestavia Hills Elementary Dolly Ridge and various areas in Cahaba Heights, including a strip along Greendale Road that would connect a large neighborhood to Crosshaven Drive.
However, even though areas are identified as priority areas doesn’t mean money is yet available for sidewalks there, Downes said. It just means those will be the areas that get higher consideration for sidewalks as funds become available for more additions, he said.
One exception is Massey Road, where a $4.6 million project to add a 4,100-foot-long, 5-foot-wide sidewalk along the road and to widen parts of the road already has begun. That project is expected to be completed by this summer, city officials said.
A draft of the new sidewalk plan being considered by the City Council is available for closer inspection on the city’s website in the packet for the Feb. 10 council meeting here.
It’s a map that shows existing pedestrian paths, proposed future pedestrian paths, proposed greenways and priority areas.
The primary areas marked as proposed greenways are along and near the Cahaba River in Liberty Park, Cahaba Heights and Altadena Valley Park. Most of the pathways at Altadena Valley Park are existing trails, but there are plans for upgrades and additional trails there.
The city’s Engineering Department has a process to analyze potential sites for sidewalks and other pathways to determine the feasibility, Fisher said.
The council also on Monday approved an ordinance to amend the sidewalk master plan to codify a requirement for people developing or subdividing property in areas covered by the sidewalk master plan to either construct the sidewalk themselves or pay money into a fund so the city can build the sidewalk at a later date. This process has been in practice but is now better spelled out as an official policy, Downes said.
In other business Monday night, the City Council:
- Agreed to contribute $44,357 toward Jefferson County’s project to repave Alta Glen Drive and Caldwell Mill Road because portions of those roads have Vestavia Hills property on both sides of the roads.
- Declared seven Vestavia Hills Police Department vehicles as surplus so they can be sold. The vehicles include five Ford Explorers and two Chevrolet Tahoes. All have more than 100,000 miles on them, records show.
- Approved licenses to sell alcoholic beverages for a new business called the Iron City Package Store at 2409 Acton Road, Suite 117, a new specialty grocery store called Marks Mart Vestavia at 2501 Rocky Ridge Road and a new restaurant called Miss Astrid’s Tavern at 3160 Cahaba Heights Road.
