Council hears options for Hollywood pedestrian bridge

The city council has three options on the table for potential pedestrian access to the Hollywood bridge over U.S. 280.

Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham principal planner Mike Kaczorowski and Jennifer Brown presented results of the RPC's study of existing conditions on the bridge, for both vehicular and pedestrian traffic, to tonight's planning and development committee meeting. The study was approved by the council in November 2016 and took up the majority of 2017.

Mountain Brook city manager Sam Gaston, State Rep. David Faulkner and former State Rep. Paul DeMarco also attended the meeting in support of improving pedestrian access.

Brown said current traffic on Hollywood Boulevard peaks in mid-day, 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.

“There’s really a direct link with how comfortable someone feels walking in the area versus how much traffic there is,” Brown said.

Kaczorowski and Brown presented three possible designs for a pedestrian bridge to the council:

• Option 1: A separate pedestrian bridge on the north side of the existing bridge, with sidewalks along the north side of Hollywood Boulevard. A traffic signal and crosswalk would also be added on the east side of the bridge, at the off-ramp from U.S. 280. This option costs around $1.4 million.
• Option 2: Widen the existing bridge to add a pedestrian lane on the north side, as well as a left turn lane for the U.S. 280 on-ramp. This option would also include the sidewalks, crosswalk and traffic signal from Option 1, and would cost around $3.87 million.
• Option 3: This is nearly identical to Option 2, but with the pedestrian lane and sidewalks on the south side of Hollywood Boulevard. Brown said this option is slightly cheaper for the city, at $3.7 million, and would be less likely to impact Union Hill Cemetery, but it would be more likely to impact homeowners' yards and driveways with sidewalk construction.

There is also a short-term stopgap, Brown said, of re-striping the bridge, moving the lanes slightly to allow about a four-foot shoulder on one side of the road. This would cost $10,000-15,000.

Each of the three options has challenges associated with it, including danger of pedestrians crossing the street to access sidewalks, impact on the cemetery or homeowners, conflict with utility lines and potential loss of parking at the popular Hollywood shopping center.

The age and condition of the bridge is also a factor. Brown said the bridge currently has about an 86 percent sufficiency rating, and it can be considered for replacement at 80 percent. However, she and Kaczorowski estimated it would be 15-20 years before the bridge was likely to be replaced by ALDOT, so they predicted the city does not need to worry about a potential project being damaged in the short term.

Brown said a completed pedestrian access would mean walkers could travel from Homewood's city center to stores in Mountain Brook Village in approximately nine minutes.

Homewood has to work with the cities of Mountain Brook and Birmingham, as well as ALDOT, if they choose to complete the project. Ward 5 Representative Jennifer Andress, who has been a driving force behind this project, said she wants to continue seeking grant funding to offset costs.

The RPC will prepare a draft report for Homewood and ALDOT, and the planning and development committee plans to continue discussing these options at its Feb. 5 meeting.

Andress also will ask the city's special issues and finance committees on Feb. 5 to consider placing exercise equipment along the Shades Creek Greenway. Andress said UAB basketball strength coach Nick Michaels has offered to help the city place outdoor-friendly exercise equipment, such as Crossfit boxes or pull-up bars, on Phase II of the trail once it is constructed.

This is similar to the exercise areas on the downtown Rotary Trail. Andress said estimates for the equipment were between $40,000 and $50,000, and she would also like to see similar equipment at Patriot Park. Andress said the bidding process for Phase II, which would extend the trail from its current terminus along Lakeshore Drive to Wildwood, is set to open this fall.

At the full council meeting tonight, city councillors also:

• Approved ServisFirst Bank's headquarters, 2500 Woodcrest Place, to construct a sign in the city's right-of-way. The sign was part of the city's original deal with ServisFirst to construct its headquarters within Homewood.
• Approved Trinity United Methodist Church, 1400 Oxmoor Road, to construct a tent in its parking lot for Discovery Week, March 8-12.
• Approved a new workers compensation policy, effective Feb. 1. The plan, offered by BITCO, will cost the city about $419,000 and has no deductible. 
• Approved a contract with CapRisk for actuarial services as part of the audit of the previous fiscal year. CapRisk performed these services for the city last year, as well.
• Approved a contract with Iberia Wealth Management to begin investing approximately $9 million that is already in an Iberia account.
• Opened bids for WAN maintenance contracts (including internet and phone services) until March 5.
• Continued a public hearing to consider condemning 2516 17th Street South until Feb. 12, to see if the homeowner makes additional progress in repairing home conditions.
• Dropped consideration of condemning 1613 25th Court South, as the owners have obtained a permit to begin demolishing the house.
• Set a Feb. 12 public hearing for a sign ordinance variance request at 35 West Lakeshore.
• Set a Feb. 26 public hearing to consider condemning the home at 2531 18th Place South.