Broadway closed while trolley tracks are preserved

A section of Broadway Street is closed for a week to allow construction to preserve historic trolley lines.

According to the city website, Broadway Street from Oxmoor Road to Palmetto Street will be closed for a week while road paving occurs, beginning Monday, June 25. A detour is in place to route traffic onto Palmetto Street and Edgewood Boulevard.

The section of historic trolley tracks and bricks were uncovered during a repaving project earlier this spring. They have lain uncovered since then while the city considered options to preserve the historic tracks without impacting tracks.

Homewood Chief of Staff J.J. Bischoff said the paving work will leave 60 to 75 feet of the trolley tracks and the historic bricks between them visible. The project will cost about $60,000 and will be part of the paving budget for the year.

Bischoff said the city brought in an expert to make sure the preservation is done correctly, and the section of tracks nearest Oxmoor Road will be covered with new pavement, as Bischoff said there was concern that cars turning at that intersection will weaken the bricks over time.

Bischoff said Dunn Construction is doing the paving, which should be complete within two weeks.