Photo by Erin Nelson
People walk along Shades Creek Greenway on Lakeshore Drive in Homewood.
The city of Homewood’s Finance Committee on Aug. 1 approved the acceptance of a $6.7 million bid for phase II of the Shades Creek Greenway project, with the entire council set to vote on the measure Aug. 8.
The low bid, submitted by Chilton Contractors, comes in slightly over the anticipated cost of roughly $6 million. That estimate was given by consultants Goodwyn Mills Cawood.
The total cost of the project is a little more than $7 million, with the city responsible for 20% of the project, about $1.7 million. The Alabama Department of Transportation is paying for 80% of the project.
Finance Committee Chairman Walter Jones said there will have to be a budget amendment to come up with the additional money for the project since it came in roughly $700,000 over budget.
If approved by the council, work should begin in mid-to-late September, Keith Strickland with GMC told the committee.
Phase II of the project will connect the existing trail that currently ends at the intersection of Columbiana Road and Lakeshore Parkway to the other side of Columbiana. It will extend down behind the Crescent at Lakeshore apartments, behind the businesses in the Wildwood area and ending at BioLife Plasma Services.
The new trail is 1.5 miles long, and the trail as a whole is 4 miles and runs from Target near Brookwood Village to Wildwood. The shared-use path can be used by both bikers and pedestrians who run or walk on the path.
In other business, the committee:
- Approved a roughly $9,400 credit for the 18th Street revitalization project
- Carried over the granting of an easement to C Spire
- Declared a 2016 Tahoe and 2020 Harley Davidson Road King as surplus
- Approved budget amendments
- Set a Sept. 12 bid date for sidewalks on Mecca Avenue and a separate sidewalk project on Delcris Drive, as well as a bid date on the same day for the replacement of the Huntington stormwater culvert
- Authorized Mayor Patrick McClusky to sign a contract for services with The Bell Center from the current fiscal year’s budget
