Trussville council seeing city projects speed up

By Chris Yow
Editor

TRUSSVILLE – The Trussville City Council met for a quarterly workshop Tuesday night, and the status of several city projects were discussed. Among the discussed projects was the extension of Valley Road, as well as Quad 1 of the downtown area. Valley Road’s project has made incredible strides since the council’s last meeting on the subject.

Tyler Davis, a spokesman for the engineering firm tabbed with the project, said the progress made in the last three months could put the construction on a fast track. In fact, Davis estimated the project could potentially see a bid package go out this summer.

Trussville Mayor Buddy Choat was pleased with the progress made in a short span.

“When we first talked about this project, we didn’t know where we stood,” he said. “Now we have a plan, and it seems to be coming together. They’ve made a lot of progress in three months.”

The extension project will eventually connect Chalkville Mountain Road with an entrance to the Pinnacle shopping center. It has been held up due to some right of way and property acquisition issues, but those both seem to be working themselves out at a much faster pace.

Another project quickly approaching the city is the downtown Quad 1 phase. While several businesses have upgraded their facade on Main Street, the Quad 1 district has steadily been undergoing an overhaul.

The city and the Trussville Downtown Redevelopment Authority have been working to finalize plans for the area, and hope to see its full potential reached. As a group, the city hopes to be able to work with property owners in the area to formulate a plan that will allow public parking and increase traffic through the quadrant.

According to the plans, the city’s proposed amphitheater will move to another area along Pinchgut Creek, and will increase in size, potentially accommodating 250-300 people.

Additionally, the council agreed to forego the former plan of widening the intersection of North Chalkville Road and Main Street at the site of the former Braden’s building. Instead, the city believes creating a bypass around the intersection would create a safer traffic flow. The move could potentially save the city $8 million in construction costs.

Councilman Jef Freeman mentioned he felt the city could benefit from having a financial adviser to weigh the pros and cons of future projects. Freeman said he felt the benefits could keep the city from incurring unnecessary costs. In addition, he was adamant the city consider adopting new subdivision regulations, as the current regulations were put in place in 1978. Choat and the council agreed.

The mayor also indicated he would like to pursue a new 10-year master plan for Trussville.