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Ross Bridge Parkway to give Hoover drivers relief 06/01/2005

Publication: The Birmingham News
Author: Dawn Kent

A new road in western Hoover will open later this month, providing easier access to the developing Ross Bridge community and an additional route for commuters to downtown Birmingham.

Ross Bridge Parkway, a $10 million project that runs 3.7 miles, will serve the Renaissance Ross Bridge Golf Resort and Spa, as well as residential neighborhoods planned for the area.

At the same time, the parkway will relieve a traffic burden on surrounding arteries in western Hoover, particularly Shades Crest Road, City Engineer Rodney Long said.

It will connect Deer Valley Parkway and Shannon Road, funneling cars from Alabama 150 to West Oxmoor Road and Lakeshore Parkway.

Since the parkway is opening in the summer, Long and his staff does not expect major traffic changes until motorists return to their regular routines when the new school year begins.

"People modify their patterns over time, and it may be three months before we see a difference," he said.

Growth planned:

Ross Bridge, a joint venture of Daniel Corp., USS Real Estate and the Retirement Systems of Alabama, covers 1,600 acres west of Shades Mountain.

The luxury hotel and championship golf course are scheduled to open this summer, and long-range plans call for nearly 1,800 detached single-family homes, 600 multi-family units and a village retail center.

Potential homebuyers have been traveling to the community to look around, and officials say the new parkway will make those trips easier.

"Right now, it's not the easiest place to find," said Ross Bridge General Manager Jeff Boyd of Daniel Corp. "To have the direct connection with the 150 corridor of Hoover is going to be very exciting."

Long said the need for a road to the community matched another need city engineering staff previously had identified in a long-range transit plan: a road that runs parallel to Shades Crest Road.

Commuters now use Shades Crest Road as a corridor to the Alford Avenue interchange on Interstate 65, or as a route to West Oxmoor Road and Lakeshore Parkway, which also lead to the interstate.

Traffic has built up steadily over the years to more than 8,000 cars per day now, raising the ire of residents who live along Shades Crest Road.

Ross Bridge Parkway should divert part of that traffic, especially motorists who live in subdivisions in extreme western Hoover, such as Lake Cyrus, Long said.

Those motorists would simply make a left turn off Alabama 150 onto Deer Valley Parkway, which would lead them to the new route.

However, motorists who live in subdivisions off South Shades Crest Road may prefer to continue traveling Shades Crest Road, because getting to the new parkway would require a left turn onto Alabama 150.

Long said the city may consider improvements at the intersection of South Shades Crest Road and Alabama 150 to facilitate easier left-hand turns.

Long-term financing:

The Hoover City Council approved the contract for building Ross Bridge Parkway in spring 2004, committing about $6 million. Ross Bridge developers are paying about $4 million.

Jefferson County plans to reimburse the city $5 million over a 10-year period, and the city will then reimburse the developers for the construction of the road, City Finance Director Robert Yeager said.

RaCon Inc. of Tuscaloosa is the contractor and is now cleaning up the site as the road nears completion.

Ross Bridge Parkway is predominantly a two-lane corridor that flares into four lanes through the Ross Bridge village center. The parkway also has four lanes at its connection point with Deer Valley Parkway.

It includes a bridge over Shades Creek and one over railroad tracks. The bridges are equipped with a pedestrian walkway that will feed into a walking trail and park that are in the area's future plans, Long said.