Renderings courtesy of Jefferson County.
The proposed Hollywood Boulevard Bridge.
The proposed Hollywood Boulevard Bridge.
The Feb. 23 press conference announcing a pair of local road projects was near its end when state Rep. David Faulkner, R-Mountain Brook, spoke.
Not from the podium, as others who talked about the plan to improve the Hollywood Boulevard bridge from Homewood to Birmingham and Mountain Brook, and the expansion of Trussville’s Deerfoot Parkway. In fact, Faulkner never left his seat on the front row in the Jefferson County Commission chamber.
Faulkner didn’t want the spotlight, he said, because Homewood Mayor Jennifer Andress was more deserving.
“I don’t like to speak when I’m not a speaker, but I just felt compelled to say that [something about Andress],” Faulkner said. “The people were thanked, and they should be. But she needed to be singled out, in my opinion, because Jennifer has been on this project. She’s the only person that, in my opinion, has been on the project from start to finish.
“Through every step of the way, she’s been involved and it [was] before she was even in elected office when she started,” the state representative said. “Now she’s the mayor of Homewood, and here we see it coming. It’s finally coming and happening. But I just felt like we had to single out Jennifer for her work. A lot of us in this room have played a part, but no one has played the role all the way through, from start to finish, and put in the time and effort that she has. That just had to be [said]. She had to be recognized, in my opinion.”
Photo by Solomon Crenshaw, Jr.
Roads and Transportation Director Chris Nicholson, Jefferson County Commissioner Joe Knight.
From left: Roads and Transportation Director Chris Nicholson, Jefferson County Commissioner Joe Knight.
Faulkner wasn’t alone as everyone in the chamber stood and applauded Andress for having shepherded the bridge project to where it is today.
Andress and her fellow mayors from Trussville, Mountain Brook and Birmingham, and dozens of other regional and state officials assembled at the Jefferson County Courthouse to announce the major federal and state investment in long-planned regional infrastructure improvements.
The projects include the expansion of Deerfoot Parkway in Trussville, as well as critical safety and connectivity upgrades along the Hollywood Boulevard bridge over U.S. 280. Improvements to that bridge, which links Homewood, Mountain Brook and Birmingham, will include installing a new traffic signal and enhancing pedestrian access across the bridge corridor.
The projects will be done in partnership with Jefferson County.
Andress said her chest tightens every time she drives over the Hollywood bridge.
“I see people there every single day,” she recalled. “I go to the YMCA there [and] drive through there every single day. I just see people every single day. Sometimes they’re pushing strollers. Sometimes they have dogs. Sometimes they’re two abreast. Sometimes it’s pitch black dark because it’s 5 o’clock in the morning.
“It’s beyond frightening,” the Homewood mayor said. “It’s a miracle that nothing has happened tragic there so far.”
Jefferson County Commissioner Mike Bolin recalled growing up in Homewood.
“It just really makes my heart glad that this has come into fruition and I’ll live long enough to walk across that bridge,” he said as he jokingly knocked on the wooden podium. “Our citizens want and expect from us as elected representatives that we work together and that we work together to find solutions to improve the quality of life. We’re doing that here, whether it’s making it safer to go across Highway 280 or ensuring a smoother connector to the morning commute.
“By focusing on projects like this, we’re not just building infrastructure,” Bolin said. “We’re building opportunity, accessibility and a stronger community for everyone.”
Andress thanked U.S. Sen. Katie Britt for securing the federal funds for the projects and U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt for his support of the project, which Assistant County Manager Heather Carter described as “relatively small but very complicated.”
“Indeed, it is,” Andress said, “running through three municipalities, over a state highway [and] adjacent to a cemetery.”
Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin said, “Somebody got something right when they made us nonpartisan because when you are nonpartisan in your position, you wake up every single day [and] you only focus on the solutions. You wake up every single day you solve problems. You don’t necessarily think about this side or that side.
“There’s one side,” he said, “and that is the people we serve, so kudos to every single person, every mayor, every state representative, every state senator, every city councilor, our federal partners, state partners with ALDOT, every person and organization making this project possible.”
Trussville Mayor Ben Short was going to say Feb. 23 was a great day for Trussville. “Really,” he said, “it’s a great day for the region.
“These projects have crossed to different administrations and continue today,” he said, thanking federal and state delegations as well as the Jefferson County Commission and the county manager’s office. “I appreciate all of the work you’ve put into this over the years. … It just shows the importance of regional cooperation.”
Chris Nicholson, director of the Jefferson County Roads and Transportation Department, explained that the widening of Deerfoot from Interstate 59 to U.S. 11 and intersection improvements on U.S. 11 are funded through Britt’s appropriations of $4 million in transportation funds. The overage will come from county roads and bridge dollars, with the total project costing around $5 million to $5.5 million.
Nicholson said Hollywood Phase One, which is the sidewalks on either end of the bridge — but no bridge work — is being funded by the Hollywood Cooperative, the city of Homewood, the city of Mountain Brook and Bolin’s office. The cost is around $1.2 million, he said.
Hollywood Phase 2 is the bridge widening with a sidewalk on the bridge and a third lane and intersection improvements. It is estimated to cost $3.5 million to $4.5 million and has funding coming from the Alabama Department of Transportation, Metropolitan Planning Organization and Jefferson County.
Money for the bridge was initially earmarked from when Steve Ammons was the District 5 commissioner, Nicholson explained. It has been held by Bolin, Ammons’ successor, specifically for the Hollywood project.
The match money for the Hollywood bridge and the Deerfoot overruns will come from Jefferson County’s general fund for roads and bridges, he said.
Commissioner Joe Knight summed up the gathering, saying that working together, you can get so much more done.
“We’ve got competition in Huntsville. We’ve got competition in Mobile,” Knight said. “We need to galvanize Jefferson County, Birmingham and all the municipalities [and] continue to work together. Projects like this will be great, and there’ll be more coming. The more we work together, the better it’ll be.”
