A look ahead: Sidewalk projects prioritized

The city of Homewood is finalizing its sidewalk priorities for the 2018 fiscal year, with $249,000 budgeted in new sidewalk construction and $100,000 in sidewalk repair.

In November and December, City Council members gave input on the current project priority list. One new sidewalk project on their high priority list is Shades Creek Parkway from Rumson Road to Yorkshire Drive, which would be paired with a crosswalk across Shades Creek Parkway that Ward 5 Rep. Jennifer Andress said ALDOT has agreed to. ALDOT estimated the project would cost $65,000 in construction and $14,000 in initial engineering.

They also moved a sidewalk project on BM Montgomery Street, from 26th Avenue South to 28th Avenue South, from medium to high priority. 

Wyatt Pugh from the City Inspections Department discussed having a more formalized engineering process to make decisions about the look and placement of sidewalks easier. Pugh said having this would likely mean sidewalk projects would be completed in “a more orderly fashion.” 

City Planner Vanessa McGrath added the city has completed many of the “low-hanging fruit” projects and will be building sidewalks that are more complicated in terms of expense, geography and other factors, and having an engineering process will make that easier.

McGrath said the next step will be for the Building, Engineering and Zoning Department to take the high priority project list and start getting cost estimates from contractors to see what can be accomplished. 

As of The Homewood Star’s press date, those estimates have not been received. 

She said medium priority projects are more likely to be considered next year, as there are 16 projects considered high priority. Two of those projects are under construction, and three others are in the design and engineering phase.