Hoover council OKs $120 million plan for constructing new I-459 interchange
The Hoover City Council tonight approved an agreement with the state outlining how a new Interstate 459 interchange will be built just south of the South Shades Crest road overpass, to be called Exit 9.
The agreement still has to be signed by the Alabama Department of Transportation and Gov. Kay Ivey, but this is a big step in the process toward getting the interchange built.
Perhaps an even bigger step that went largely unnoticed this past fall was the Federal Highway Administration giving substantial approval for the interchange. Assistant City Engineer Blake Miller said the city received that letter from the federal government on Nov. 14 after submitting an interchange justification study for federal review.
The only contingency was that an environmental impact study still needs to be submitted and approved by the Federal Highway Administration, Miller said.
The agreement approved by the Hoover City Council tonight estimates the new interchange project will cost $120 million, including $5.5 million for land acquisition, $4.9 million for utility relocation, $3.5 million for preliminary engineering and $106 million for construction.
The city of Hoover would be responsible for $61 million, including all the costs for land acquisition, utility relocation and engineering and 44% of the construction cost, according to the agreement. The state, administering federal money, would pick up the other $59 million in construction costs.
Hoover City Administrator Allan Rice said he expects the city will issue bonds to pay for its portion of the interchange because it is such a big project.
However, the city already has spent $5.27 million to buy 22 acres on the northwest side of I-459 and 31.3 acres on the southeast side. The city also already has chosen Neel-Schaffer to do the engineering for the interchange.
Some smaller tracts of land still need to be purchased, and some preliminary survey work has begun to help determine the exact tracts needed, Miller said. It could take about a month to get ALDOT and the governor to sign off on the new agreement, and then engineers can get busy with more in-depth engineering plans, he said.
It should take a couple of more years to finish the engineering work so the project can be bid out for construction, Miller said. The state will be the one seeking the bids, he said.
The interchange will include two ramps on each side of the interstate (two of which will have bridges over CSX railroad tracks on the southwest and northwest side of the interchange), Miller said. There will be a bridge over the interstate and a new lane of traffic between Exit 9 and Exit 10 (John Hawkins Parkway) on both the northbound and southbound sides of the interstate, he said.
City officials believe the new interchange will help relieve traffic congestion on other roads, such as South Shades Crest Road, Shelby County 52 and Alabama 150.
In other business tonight, the Hoover City Council:
- Approved an agreement with ALDOT to replace the traffic signal at U.S. 31 and Patton Chapel Road North
- Authorized the mayor to hire Scripta Insights to analyze pharmacy claims associated with the city’s health insurance plan to find ways to achieve cost savings and still meet wellness goals for the city and its employees
- Amended the city’s 2023 budget to allocate $28,000 for the first year of Scripta Insights’ services with a three-year contract and $57,272 to replace some of the Police Department’s bulletproof vests, with $28,636 of that cost being paid for with a federal grant
- Annexed two pieces of city-owned property at 3989 and 3993 Lorna Road near the Cahaba River. The City Council in April agreed to pay $375,000 to buy the 2.63 acres for future use as either commercial and/or recreational property.
- Set a public hearing for Jan. 17 to consider whether to rezone the Hare Farm in Bluff Park from an R-1 residential zone to a planned residential district to be used primarily as an event venue. David and Teresa Hare purchased nearly 9 acres of the former Smith Farm at 613 Sanders Road and 2421 Savoy St. in 2019 with hopes of preserving the picturesque farm scenery.
- Set a public hearing for Jan. 17 to consider approval for an automobile washing facility on an outparcel of the Publix shopping center at the corner of South Shades Crest Road and Morgan Road.
- Set a public hearing for Jan. 17 to consider whether to rezone property at 2011 Oak Lane off Alford Avenue from an R-1 single-family residential district to a Legacy Single-Family Residential District to allow homeowners there, Charles and Caroline Phillips, to build a new covered front porch that is a slightly larger size.
- Set a public hearing for Jan. 17 to consider whether to declare property at 3416 Cedar Crest Circle a public nuisance due to high weeds and/or grass.
Editor's note: This story was updated at 5:43 p.m. on Jan. 4 to clarify where interstate ramps will include bridges over CSX railroad tracks. The bridges will on ramps on the southwest and northwest sides of the interchange (the sides closer to Bessemer).