Rendering courtesy of Neel-Schaffer.
13151_Site Plan.dwg
A rendering of plans for the new Riverchase greenway.
The city of Hoover has obtained a second federal grant to help pay for a $1.1 million half-mile walking trail and parking lot along the Cahaba River next to Riverchase Elementary School.
The city in 2015 received a $400,000 federal grant for the project when the total cost was expected to be about $500,000.
But when the project was put out for bid, the cost ended up being $1.1 million, mostly due to design changes required by the Alabama Department of Transportation, said Tim Westhoven, chief operations officer for the city of Hoover.
The Hoover City Council in November 2018 approved an additional $660,000 for the project, but Westhoven since was able to obtain a second federal grant for $480,000 through the Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham.
That means that 80 percent of the cost — $880,000 — will be covered by federal funds, and the city will pick up the rest, or $220,000.
The first federal grant came from money reserved for alternative transportation projects, and the second grant came from money designated for traffic congestion mitigation and air quality improvement projects, Westhoven said.
Construction officially began on June 20, and the contractor has until Oct. 17 to complete the job, with extra days allowed for any weather-related delays, said Michael Croghan, the construction engineering inspector for the Neel-Schaffer engineering company handling the project. Triple J Construction is the general contractor.
Most of the increase in cost was due to ALDOT requiring that 4 feet of gravel be put underneath the parking lot, Westhoven said.
The parking lot and circular half-mile trail for pedestrians, bicyclists and other non-motorized forms of transportation will be on the west side of Old Montgomery Highway, in a largely open meadow in the Cahaba River floodplain located between the river and Riverchase Elementary.
The Riverchase Homeowners Association provided funding for the preliminary design.
