Rendering courtesy of ALDOT.
The proposed Cahaba Beach Road project has drawn concern from local organizations, including the Birmingham and Vestavia city councils, but ALDOT has not yet announced a final route for the road and bridge.
Shelby County had eight infrastructure projects scheduled to complete in 2018. Of those eight, six have been completed and two are nearing completion. Altogether, the projects cost the county approximately $13.9 million.
According to the Shelby County Highway Department’s chief engineer, Scott Holladay, the county has two pressing issues when it comes to road construction and infrastructure work: alleviating traffic congestion and maintaining the condition of the existing infrastructure.
Meanwhile, in Birmingham, the city has been dealing with an ongoing tug-of-war over the Cahaba Beach Road project. The Alabama Department of Transportation-managed project has been in place since 2015 and is estimated to cost in between $12-$15 million.
The project would consist of creating a two-lane access road and bridge over the Little Cahaba River to reconnect U.S. 280 and Sicard Hollow Road.
The exact route of the reconnection has not been decided, but the area under consideration is mostly undeveloped and is part of the Birmingham area’s water source.
It’s for that reason that the Cahaba River Society, Southern Environmental Law Center, the Cahaba Riverkeeper and, most recently, Vestavia City Council and Birmingham City Council are against the project.
In a December article in Vestavia Voice, Beth Stewart of the Cahaba River Society said this is the first project in 15 years that the Riverkeeper has opposed because of the potential threat it poses to the surrounding area’s drinking water and environment because of runoff and general pollution caused by construction and the 10,000 cars estimated to use the road andbridge per day.
Another 2018 infrastructure project added a left turn lane from Old Highway 280 to Shelby County 11 next to Chelsea High School. With cars on Old Highway 280 getting backed up while waiting to turn onto the road, traffic along the road gets easily congested, particularly in the mornings.
Holladay has said the county is trying acquire right-of-way access for up to 100 tracts of property as part of the project widening Valleydale Road from Caldwell Mill to Inverness Center Drive. The widening will add more lanes to Valleydale.
In addition to the two infrastructure projects still in progress from 2018, the county has nine more projects slated for 2019. Shelby County 17 will be widened and resurfaced beginning in April, and additional resurfacing of other county roads will begin in April or May.
The timeline for the rest of the 2019 infrastructure projects had not been set as of late December.
Additional infrastructure projects for Shelby County include:
► Shelby County 55 bridge replacement in Sterrett.
► Shelby County 24 bridge replacement.
► Shelby County 52 bridge replacement – Cahaba River.
► Shelby County 52 bridge replacement – Buck Creek.
► Shelby County 52/Shelby County 93 intersection improvements.
► Shelby County 12/Shelby County 22 intersection realignment.
► Shelby County 47/Shelby County 39 intersection realignment.
► Widening and resurfacing Shelby County 17 from Shelby County 22 to Shelby County 26 (Alabaster).
Collectively, these projects will cost the county approximately $18.6 million.
