Photo courtesy of Ashley Curry
Vestavia Hills Mayor Ashley Curry
Well, ready or not, school has started back. I don’t know about your children, but my four grandchildren were excited. Two of them started at Pizitz Middle School, and they are excited to be in the same school, having come from different elementary schools. In all the excitement, please be careful in your carpool, and let’s have a safe school year.
Our pedestrian bridge construction is actually underway. Surveying is ongoing, and soon the relocation of some underground utilities will make the construction more visible. With that said, you should see some real progress by this fall.
In early 2000, Mayor Scotty McCallum organized a “sidewalk committee” to assess the need for sidewalks in the city, with the intent of improving walkability. That committee felt a good way to connect the east side of U.S. 31 with the west side was to build a tunnel under U.S. 31, similar to the tunnel in Homewood. That idea didn’t last long after it was determined that there was solid rock just under the surface.
Then there were years of design concepts and reviews by the Alabama Department of Transportation. What started as a dream by Mayor McCallum in early 2000 has now come to fruition. The pedestrian bridge will finally provide the walkability between Wald Park, West Elementary and the Library in the Forest (not to mention the Boulder Canyon walking trails). Two of our most-visited sites will soon be connected for pedestrians.
On Sept. 11, the nation will remember the 3,000 victims of the 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and United Airlines Flight 93 that crashed in Pennsylvania. Since the attack, more people who assisted in the investigation and victim recovery have died from the toxic exposure than died in the attacks.
We should all remember the sacrifices of the first responders who rushed into the crash site intent on rescuing victims, without any concern for their own well-being. Their unwavering courage and compassion serving our fellow citizens on that fateful day should never be forgotten.
I would like to recognize our Vestavia Hills Fire Department and specifically the “swift water rescue” units that were deployed to Florida in early August to assist in the rescue efforts resulting from Hurricane Debby. This storm unleashed historic and catastrophic flooding in the Big Bend coast of Florida.
