The Birmingham City Council on Tuesday approved a $4.5 million agreement with Northside Redevelopment for the construction of sidewalk and roadway infrastructure on city-owned rights-of-way at a new 9,380-seat amphitheater and the surrounding redevelopment.

According to city staff, this was part of the initial agreement between the city, the BJCC, Live Nation and other parties, in addition to the funding that was previously approved by the city.

“This is really about improving this entire corridor in north Birmingham,” said Councilor Hunter Williams, who chairs the Economic Development and Tourism Committee.

“This really compliments our efforts to increase street lights and repaving in the area as well,” he continued. “We’re at a pivotal moment. For one, the council does not think we spend enough money on our city-owned infrastructure. We know the public wants to see more of that. And second, we are going to have a brand new, world-class amphitheater completed next year and we want Birmingham to be a destination for people to come and visit. Most importantly, we want them to be safe, and investing in new infrastructure is a key part of that.”

Construction of the new amphitheater has already begun and is expected to be completed by summer 2025, according to city staff.

Councilor Valeria Abbott stressed that the city is paying for improvements to public areas and not property owned by private entities.

“We’re not propping up anybody’s project; we’re doing things that probably should have been done a long time ago,” she said.

The measure passed with Councilor Carol Clarke abstaining and all other members voting yes.

Council President Darrell O’Quinn said the work is in addition to the $10 million in street paving the city pays for annually.

Council Renews Transit Agreement With Increase

The council also Tuesday unanimously approved a funding agreement for the Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority with a 27% increase from the previous year.

The agreement will provide $14 million to the authority, which includes fixed route and paratransit services as well as Bus Rapid Transit services.

The city invested about $11 million in the services last year.

Charlotte Shaw, director of the authority, told the council that since the BRT launched in 2022, the service has experienced 207% growth in ridership. According to Shaw, the average monthly ridership is currently more than 20,000 residents. She added that officials with the authority hope to keep the services complimentary for the foreseeable future.

The BRT lines in Birmingham run from Woodlawn to Five Points West, with 32 stops along the route that connect to other fixed routes and microtransit hubs.

Shaw said the authority hopes to expand the BRT’s footprint in the coming years as well as to launch an app next year that will consolidate payments and routes for the various public transit services.