By Chris Yow
Editor
TRUSSVILLE — Interested parties of the future road improvement project on Trussville-Clay Road gathered at the Trussville City Hall on Thursday for a pre-construction meeting to answer questions about the project and its timeline. The improvements will include widening of Trussville-Clay Road with new asphalt, but will not include any widening or replacement of the bridge over Interstate 59.
Jerry Cataldo, Trussville City Schools Transportation Director, was alongside several representatives from the schools who asked specifically about the possible road closure that will impede traffic on the road and cause a detour during the school year.
John Brown, Senior Project Manager for contractor Carcel and G Construction, said the plan was set to wait as long as possible to shut down the road, and to have the road closed for as short of a time period as possible.
Graduation for Hewitt-Trussville High School will be held at the football stadium on May 24, and Brown said it’s possible the road may not be shut down before then, although he could not say with any certainty when the shutdown would occur.
The project will begin on Service Road right-of-way and will eventually widen Trussville-Clay Road to include a left turn lane on to Service Road with a traffic light to be installed. There will also be a right turn lane into the Trussville Civic Center’s current entrance off the road and that lane will extend to a right turn only onto Husky Parkway, and a left turn lane into the Longmeadow subdivision.
Once the turn lanes are open on Trussville-Clay Road, the main entrance to the civic center will be off Husky Parkway.
Trussville Mayor Gene Melton stressed the importance of keeping off the property of Wanda McCoy and protecting the oak trees in her yard. The oak trees are very important to McCoy, as they are the only barrier between her home and traffic along Service Road.
“I’ve got to have a protective barrier there,” Melton said. “Those trees have been there a long time, and she is very sensitive to those trees.”
The project has a 180 working day maximum, but the contractors said they would like to have the project completed before the next school year. Work is planned to begin on the project Jan. 18, 2016.