Metro Roundup: Mountain Brook plans infrastructure, recreation projects

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It’s a new year, and with it comes new projects for the city of Mountain Brook. They include infrastructure and recreation improvements, along with drainage, sidewalk and bridge projects.

Here is a more in-depth look at each of them:

Infrastructure Improvements

According to Mountain Brook City Manager Sam Gaston, there will be plenty of infrastructure improvements in the city in 2023, much like in 2022.

“We have a lot of infrastructure projects that we are doing and are looking forward to a lot of them being completed in the next fiscal year of the following year,” Gaston said.

Gaston said he hopes by late summer or early fall of 2023 to start the roundabout projects in Mountain Brook Village that have been discussed for a while. This will be a 12- to 16-month project, and the work may be done at night.

Jefferson County has two big sewer projects, one in Mountain Brook Village, which is set to take place May through July. The other is on the west side of Crestline and should take place June through November, Gaston said.

Recreation improvements

Shanda Williams, parks and recreation superintendent for the city of Mountain Brook, said a renovation was recently completed at the athletic complex at Mountain Brook High School, which was originally built over 30 years ago and included six dirt baseball and softball fields.

“Although we kept the fields maintained at an acceptable level, the youth programs have continually grown and increased the demand for field space that we could not provide with natural fields,” Williams said.

Rainouts could shut down games and practices for days, which impacted the season for many teams. The city decided to turn the fields into artificial turf to maximize their use, which would allow practices and games to continue on despite the rain, she said.

According to Williams, the complex also received new covered and lighted batting cages, a new playground, new concession stand and new restroom facilities.

Paved walkways and paths around the fields have improved pedestrian traffic flow, and space above a new retaining wall allows for more access around the complex and provides a different viewing opportunity for fields three and four.

“We had the grand opening ceremony this past spring, and I think everyone is very pleased with the results,” Williams said.

She added that the transformation of field one is in the final stages and will be converted to artificial turf. It will allow the older kids a place to play as before, but it can host two games or practices for younger kids. A restroom and concession stand was added to this field, which Williams said was desperately needed. The batting cages were also upgraded to provide three lanes under one roof, and the netting can be configured in different ways to accommodate multiple uses if the need arises.

There are plans to do some renovations and expansions at the Crestline Tot Lot, the small park located two blocks from Mountain Brook City Hall across from Crestline Elementary School. Gaston said the city is looking to expand on the existing property.

“We are trying to improve access to the playground with better entrances to the park, ramps to the playground and better surfacing around the park,” Williams said. “We also hope to expand the play area some and add a small restroom. We have a lot of ideas and are trying to see how we can make them all work together to provide the best experiences for kids and adults.”

The design for this is in the works, with plans to bid it out in the spring and begin the improvements in summer of 2023.

The city is also partnering with the nonprofit Friends of Jemison Park to help fund projects for Jemison Park.

“We are teaming together to completely redo the walkways and add additional walkways in the park,” Gaston said. “Instead of concrete, it will be asphalt, which is more durable and not as hurtful to the knees and joints as concrete. The walkways will be totally redone to be 7 to 8 feet wide. We’ll add some additional spurs for loops in the park and are going to do a lot of drainage work, so we’re very excited.”

According to Williams, the Friends group has raised half the funds that will go toward this project, and the city has committed $1.4 million over a three-year period.

All of the concrete trail will be moved and rerouted in places to take advantage of higher ground to help avoid the flood-prone areas of the park and provide better views of the creek. The trail will be widened and paved with asphalt, which is both friendlier to runners and will withstand the flooding better than the gravel.

Additional parking spaces, including some designated for people with disabilities, will be added along Mountain Brook Parkway to provide paved walkways to the trail.

A new woodland trail will be added on the far side of Shades Creek, Williams said. This trail will take visitors on a completely new adventure. Another pedestrian bridge will be added across the creek and will create a loop when the whole project is completed.

“Work has already begun on this new scenic trail,” Williams said. “The goal is to have it complete before we have to close other sections of the trail, so visitors will have a place to walk. We plan to work on the trail in sections to keep as much of it open as possible. The whole project should be completed by the spring of 2024.”

Another recreation project includes redoing and adding features to Canterbury Park that will include landscaping, a new sign, additional playground equipment and irrigation.

Drainage

The city also has around eight or nine drainage projects planned. Gaston said several of them should be completed in fiscal 2023. The largest one is around Mountain Brook Junior High School and will include expanding the existing detention pipe just north of the school and putting in a 42-inch pipe around the back of the school at Overbrook Road. This project should begin in January.

Williams said the MBJH field is one of the city’s most used fields, and turfing it has been in discussions for a while now. The drainage project will affect the field, and the goal is to have the turf project ready to go when the drainage project wraps up, Williams said.

The turf project will consist of turning the field so the end zone is closer to Overbrook Road, which will increase its size. It will also be lined for football and lacrosse. The tennis courts will be moved closer to the school, a restroom and storage facility will be added, along with LED lights and more parking. Plans are to start the project in May and have it completed before school starts in August.

“We are excited because these improvements will give more space and flexibility to our community's sports programs,” Williams said.

Sidewalks and Bridges

There are at least four sidewalk projects that should be started this year:

Locksley Road from Dunbarton Drive to Westbury. City employees are going to do that project, which will create a long block connecting to existing sidewalks.

Sidewalk work will be contracted out on North Brookwood Road.

A sidewalk project on Old Leeds Road from the bridge to Old Leeds Lane should be started in the next couple of months.

A big project on Pine Ridge Road, from Old Leeds Road to Mountain Brook Parkway, will be federally funded over several years. It may start work near the end of 2023.

Except for Pine Ridge Road, these sidewalk projects should be done by the end of this fiscal year, Gaston said. While Mountain Brook is already a walkable city, these projects are to connect or extend existing sidewalks, he said.

The city is also working on some bridge projects, such as replacing the Caldwell Mill Road bridge, which Gaston hopes will be done by January. In the summer, the city expects to start work on replacing the Old Brook Trail bridge and do some work underneath the historic bridge on Canterbury Road at the edge of Mountain Brook Village.

Businesses continue to open in Lane Park, and Gaston said it is expected to be at full capacity in early 2023.

Possible redevelopment

The old Shades Valley Presbyterian Church has been rezoned for condos and a few garden homes. This passed the planning commission and should be coming before the Mountain Brook City Council in January for the first public hearing.

Just down the street at Brookwood Village, Gaston said the city is working with Homewood to come up with development standards for the existing mall building, which is about 25% in Mountain Brook and 75% in Homewood. However, the land area is closer to 60% in Homewood and 40% in Mountain Brook.

Gaston said a development plan is expected in early 2023 to be submitted to both cities’ planning commissions and city councils.

School projects

According to Tommy Prewitt, director of facilities for Mountain Brook Schools, there are projects taking place at every campus. These are the projects to be completed in 2023:

All four of the elementary schools will have renovation work done during the summer.

At Mountain Brook Elementary, the old historic windows will be replaced, and some of the bathrooms will get a refresh.

Cherokee Bend Elementary will also see some bathroom renovations, along with a renovation for the kitchen and new flooring in some classrooms.

At Crestline Elementary, the existing gym will be getting a new roof, the administration area will be renovated, and work will be done on some of the bathrooms.

At Brookwood Forest, some of the classroom flooring will be replaced throughout the building.

Mountain Brook Junior High’s 18 new classroom additions should be completed in February, along with the aforementioned stormwater improvement work.

The contractor is finishing up the second phase of the additions at Mountain Brook High School that includes a counseling suite and bandroom expansion that is set to be completed in March.