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Map courtesy of city of Hoover
West HV Corridor land use 10-12-20 cropped
This map shows proposed land uses along a roughly 4-mile proposed road that starts at Morgan Road at the bottom, goes north between South Shades Crest Road and Stadium Trace Parkway, crosses South Shades Crest, crosses a proposed new Interstate 459 interchange and connects with Ross Bridge Parkway at Alabama 150. The gray area is proposed as an innovation employment center, while the bright pink areas are proposed for high-intensity commercial use. The tan area is proposed as a new neighborhood village, while the lighter tan area is proposed as future residential land.
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Map courtesy of city of Hoover
West Hoover Pkwy and Neighborhoods map
This map shows a proposed roughly 4-mile road (in yellow) starting at Morgan Road at the bottom, going north between South Shades Crest Road and Stadium Trace Parkway, crossing South Shades Crest, connecting to a proposed new Interstate 459 interchange and connecting with Ross Bridge Parkway at Alabama 150.
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Drawing courtesy of city of Hoover
West Hoover corridor cross section 10-11-20
This is a cross-section of the proposed new 4-mile corridor between Morgan Road and Alabama 150, indicating an initial desire to have a two-lane parkway with a bicycle/pedestrian path alongside it. City officials are proposing to have enough right of way to add more lanes in the future if necessary.
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Map courtesy of city of Hoover
West Hoover corridor land use plan 10-12-20
This map shows proposed land uses along a roughly 4-mile proposed road that starts at Morgan Road at the bottom, goes north between South Shades Crest Road and Stadium Trace Parkway, crosses South Shades Crest, crosses a proposed new Interstate 459 interchange and connects with Ross Bridge Parkway at Alabama 150. The gray area is proposed as an innovation employment center, while the bright pink areas are proposed for high-intensity commercial use. The tan area is proposed as a new neighborhood village, while the lighter tan area is proposed as future residential land.
Several Hoover residents on Monday night aired concerns and questions about a proposed 4-mile road in western Hoover.
Hoover’s Planning and Zoning Commission entertained public comments about the road, which is being touted as a way to relieve traffic woes in Trace Crossings and speed up commutes for people in multiple communities in western Jefferson and Shelby counties.
The proposal is for a 4-mile road that would start at Morgan Road (Shelby County 52) and go through a valley between South Shades Crest road and Stadium Trace Parkway, cross South Shades Crest Road near Brock’s Gap Parkway, connect with a proposed new Interstate 459 interchange and hook up with Ross Bridge Parkway at Alabama 150.
A proposed amendment to Hoover’s comprehensive plan also suggests the creation of a new employment center along that road in the Brock’s Gap area, designed for science, technology, engineering and math-related companies.
Randy Snuggs, a resident of the Southpointe community off South Shades Crest Road, questioned the need for creating a new employment center when there are vacant buildings in areas such as the Patton Creek shopping center.
He asked why the city would want to disturb the beautiful woods and historic areas next to Southpointe when there are existing commercial areas ripe for redevelopment.
“In Hoover, it seems like everything is getting more concrete,” Snuggs said. “Sometimes, I think more is not better.”
Hoover’s city planner, Mac Martin, said the proposed employment center would not really compete with existing retail properties. The idea is to provide a place for office and “clean” technology businesses that would not have a noxious impact on residential areas nearby, he said.
SWEETENING THE POT
Hoover City Administrator Allan Rice said one reason for including an employment center along the road is to give Shelby County another reason to help pay for the connector road. An employment center ideally would boost the county’s tax revenues.
“We’re trying to enroll other partners,” Rice said. “This is a way to sweeten the pot enough to get Shelby County interested in helping participate in this.”
James Brown, another Southpointe resident, asked why Hoover residents’ tax money is being used to alleviate traffic from another city.
Rice said the traffic coming from Helena and other points south is already there, causing traffic problems on South Shades Crest and Alabama 150.
“People are going to continue to move to Helena, and they’re going to drive downtown, and they’re going to drive to employment in Hoover,” Rice said.
This road project is designed not just to benefit them, but also to pull some of that traffic off South Shades Crest Road and Alabama 150, alleviating traffic congestion in Hoover, he said.
Snuggs asked why Hoover doesn’t wait to see if Jefferson County’s project to widen Morgan Road will take care of the traffic backups.
Rice said that while Jefferson County is widening Morgan Road, that road widening will stop at the county line, and Shelby County has no plans to widen Morgan Road in Shelby County.
PROTECTING HISTORY
Birgit Kibelka, a resident of the Shades Mountain community, noted that the Brock’s Gap area is home to an important historical feature. That’s the area where the state of Alabama in the 1850s chose to make a deep cut into Shades Mountain to open up a railway that led to the development of Jefferson County as a home for the coal and iron industries.
Nitroglycerin was used to blast 75 feet deep into the limestone, and the effort was heralded as the deepest railroad cut in the world, according to the historical marker along South Shades Crest Road.
The steep cuts are still there, and the ground is littered with large blocks of stone that were cut from the mountain.
Kibelka asked if the city was going to disturb the historical nature of the site by putting a road through there, plus an employment center.
Martin and Rice concurred that Brock’s Gap is an extraordinary historical feature, and Rice said the city believes there is enough space to widen an existing road that goes through the property without destroying the rock formations.
He would like to see the amenity protected but also provide better access to it so more people can enjoy it, he said. Right now, most people can’t access it because it is blocked off by private property, he said.
Hoover’s planning commission on Monday night held off on voting on the amendment to the comprehensive plan to give Martin time to add more wording regarding protection of the historical features there.
TRAIL CONNECTION TO MOSS ROCK PRESERVE
The amendment also contains drawings that show creation of a greenway trail from Shades Creek and Ross Bridge Parkway up Shades Mountain, across Shades Crest Road and to the Moss Rock Preserve nature park.
Some residents along Shades Crest Road opposed that greenway trail, citing multiple reasons, including not wanting to disturb the steep mountainside.
Resident Jerry Smith said he thinks trails are a good thing, but he wanted to know where it would be and what kind of trail it would be.
Martin said a specific route has not been determined yet and that further public input would be sought before such a project moved forward. He thinks it’s worthwhile to connect the Moss Rock Preserve with a larger bicycle and pedestrian network planned for the city.
City officials envision that a greenway that would allow people to go up and down Shades Mountain would be for pedestrians and perhaps bicycles only, Martin said. He does not envision the greenway being used for motorized traffic, he said.
Planning Commission Chairman Mike Wood said the terrain in that area is so steep that he would be surprised if a greenway trail there could even accommodate bicycles.
The planning commission plans to vote on the comprehensive plan amendment at its Dec. 14 meeting.
In other business Monday night, the planning commission:
- Approved preliminary plans for 44 residential lots on part of the old Smith Farm property in Bluff Park, to be developed by C.K. Enterprises.
- Approved preliminary plans for 118 residential lots and two commercial lots in the Trace Crossings Village Center, to be developed by Signature Homes.
- Approved final plans for 54 residential lots in the fourth phase of the Blackridge community, to be developed by Signature Homes.
- Approved preliminary plans for 68 residential lots in the fourth and final phase of the Abingdon by the River community being developed by Signature Homes.
- Delayed considering a request to eliminate sidewalks near the entrance to the Heatherwood subdivision off Caldwell Mill Road until Dec. 14 to give city staff more time to consult with the Heatherwood homeowners association.
