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Photo by Grace Thornton
Homewood Mayor Patrick McClusky talks about an action plan to complete a 36-mile loop that is part of the Red Rock Trail System at the Freshwater Land Trust office in Birmingham, Alabama, on Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2023.
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Map courtesy of Freshwater Land
This map shows a 36-mile loop to be completed as part of the Red Rock Trail System in Jefferson County, Alabama.
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Photo by Grace Thornton
Officials pose for a photo during an announcement about the action plan for a 36-mile loop of the Red Rock Trail System at the Freshwater Land Trust office in Birmingham, Alabama, on Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2023. From left are Fairfield Mayor Eddie Penny, Irondale Mayor James Stewart, Homewood Mayor Patrick McClusky, Birmimngham Mayor Randall Woodfin, Jefferson County Health Officer Dr. Mark Wilson, Freshwater Land Trust Executive Director Rusha Smith, Red Rock Trail System Director Carolyn Buck and Freshwater Land Trust Chairwoman Jeanne Jackson.
The next phase of Jefferson County’s Red Rock Trail System is in the works, including a focus area in Homewood, the Freshwater Land Trust announced Tuesday.
That focus area — Corridor G — will connect Red Mountain Park all the way to Jemison Trail in Mountain Brook by way of Homewood’s Shades Creek Greenway. One part of that is Shades Creek Greenway Phase 2, the additional 1.3 miles of trail under construction on the west side of Green Springs Highway,
That project only has “a little bit left to go,” Homewood Mayor Patrick McClusky said at the press conference. City officials said the target opening date for that extension is December.
Carolyn Buck, the Red Rock Trail System director, said the Freshwater Land Trust will start Oct. 1 with planning and design for the next step — the connection between Shades Creek Greenway Phase 2 and Red Mountain Park.
“Corridor G will be within parts of the city of Homewood, and all of it will benefit Homewood residents,” she said.
McClusky agreed.
“The Shades Creek Greenway Trail is something that is very important to the city of Homewood,” he said. “Now what we’re doing is really closing that loop … so it’s running right there behind Wildwood, and then it will cut up and give you access to Red Mountain as well.”
That project will finish “that connectivity that is something that our citizens have been wanting for a very long time,” McClusky said.
The Corridor G trail is part of a larger 36-mile trail loop for which an action plan was announced Tuesday, involving the cities of Homewood, Fairfield, Birmingham and Irondale. The entire Red Rock Trail System action plan includes six other focus areas, corridors A through F:
- Corridor A connects Smithfield, historically cut off by Interstate 65, to downtown Birmingham. The corridor also goes through the historic Black Merchant District (Fourth Avenue) and connects downtown Birmingham to Legion Field.
- Corridor B (20th Street) connects downtown Birmingham to Kiwanis Vulcan Trail and corrects vehicular and pedestrian safety issues.
- Corridor C connects Red Mountain Park to the Kiwanis Vulcan Trail and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Additionally, it reconnects Titusville to downtown Birmingham.
- Corridor D connects the existing High Ore Line Greenway via Fairfield and Midfield to the Valley Creek Rail-to-Trail and will connect to Miles College via a trail spur.
- Corridor E connects downtown Birmingham and Woodlawn to Ruffner Mountain.
- Corridor F connects Ruffner Mountain to Jemison Park via a new trail in development along Shades Creek.
Map courtesy of Freshwater Land
This map shows a 36-mile loop to be completed as part of the Red Rock Trail System in Jefferson County, Alabama.
All of this is intended to close the 36-mile Red Rock Trail System loop and bring greater connectivity to the Birmingham metro area, said Rusha Smith, the Freshwater Land Trust’s executive director. Currently 19 miles of trail of that trail loop are in place.
The Red Rock Trail System, in its entirety, already has more than 120 miles of trails in place throughout Jefferson County. In the next four years, the Freshwater Land Trust plans to complete 150 more miles of trails, and when the system is complete, it should eventually have 750 miles of various types of connected trails in Jefferson County.
When the Red Rock Trail System was proposed over a decade ago, it was “incredibly progressive at that time,” Smith said.
But now the trail system, which has been managed by the Freshwater Land Trust in conjunction with the Jefferson County Department of Health, is “a model for the rest of the state,” Smith said.
The new action plan was guided by Alta Design + Planning of Portland, Oregon.
“If you look at the loop in its entirety and add up not only the economic benefits but the transportation benefits and the health benefits, this will yield $25 million of those benefits annually,” Smith said. “It’s an incredibly important asset for our community.”
In addition to McClusky, three other mayors involved in the focus areas — Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin, Fairfield Mayor Eddie Penny and Irondale Mayor James D. Stewart — shared their excitement about the project during a press conference Tuesday. Jefferson County Health Officer Dr. Mark Wilson also talked about the benefits of the trail.
For more information, visit freshwaterlandtrust.org.
