Pedestrian bridge over U.S. 280 to begin construction soon
A pedestrian bridge between Homewood and Mountain Brook is expected to see the start of construction within the next few months, after combined efforts from the two cities, the city of Birmingham and county and state officials.
The pedestrian bridge, which would cross U.S. 280 at Hollywood Boulevard next to the Over Easy and Mexico Lindo shopping center, has been designed as a separate structure on the north side of the existing two-lane vehicle bridge.
Current traffic on Hollywood Boulevard peaks in mid-day, according to the Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham, with two smaller peaks during morning and evening commute times. The bridge currently fails to meet traffic demands during the mid-day peak, particularly due to the lack of a left turn lane for westbound traffic to turn onto the on-ramp for U.S. 280.
Traffic volume impacts not only possible options for pedestrian access, but also the comfort level of walkers and runners to cross the bridge.
A completed pedestrian access would mean walkers could travel from Homewood’s city center to stores in Mountain Brook Village in approximately nine minutes, according to an RPC presentation to the Homewood council in January. The pedestrian bridge has been a popular project among local runners to have a safer path, but it has been discussed without much action for several years.
Homewood City Councilor Jennifer Andress made the pedestrian bridge a principal part of her 2016 election campaign and has been working to get the various government entities together to make the project happen. The bridge spans Homewood, Mountain Brook, Birmingham and ALDOT properties, making ownership of the project complicated.
The cities recently formed a cooperative district for the pedestrian bridge construction. Homewood and Mountain Brook have each pledged $200,000 for the project in their 2019 budgets, and money has also been pledged from the Jefferson County Commission, the county’s delegates in the state Legislature and private donations.
Birmingham Track Club also hosted a “run social” as a fundraiser for the pedestrian bridge on Sept. 29, raising more than $4,800 through online, on-site and other donations, with matching donations from the Track Club and the Trak Shak. Hundreds of runners showed up for the early morning run, which included crossing the existing bridge over U.S. 280, and the chance to buy T-shirts and win door prizes.
State Rep. David Faulkner, former State Rep. Paul DeMarco and Jefferson County Commissioner Steve Ammons attended the run social. Ammons said he supported the pedestrian bridge because he’s “a big fan of walkable communities.”
“This is such a huge community effort,” Andress said.
Mountain Brook Councilor Virginia Smith said the mayor and council have been active in supporting the project, and they have not heard negative feedback from residents.
“We support it and hope we are going to be starting construction soon,” Smith said.
“The people we have heard from are those who use it or those who drive over it and say, ‘Yeah, something’s clearly needed there. It’s dangerous.’”
The Regional Planning Commission had studied and presented options for the bridge earlier this year, with price tags ranging from $1.4 million to $3.87 million. At the Sept. 29 event, however, Andress said more recent designs were estimated to cost a little over $1.1 million.
Andress said some of the funding for the pedestrian bridge becomes available Monday, Oct. 1, but there are still details to finalize about the cooperative district and funding before construction begins.