Tag: transportation

BDOT Embarks on Set of Road and Trail Projects Under Comprehensive Policy

In 2024, the Birmingham Department of Transportation embarked on a series of projects aimed at modernizing the city’s infrastructure and transportation systems, including street resurfacing, creation of bike lanes and walking paths and methods to slow traffic and even discourage it. Read more.

Transportation Secretary Buttigieg Announces $14.5M Award to Turn 4th Avenue North Into a Two-Way Street

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg stopped traffic on Fourth Avenue North on Wednesday to announce a $14.5 million grant to help reconnect parts of the community that have been divided by transportation decisions of the past.

The announcement, staged in the middle of the downtown thoroughfare, outlined a grant to Birmingham to convert Fourth Avenue North — which includes the historic Fourth Avenue Black Business District — from a one-way road to a two-way. Read more.

Not Now, JeffCo Commission Tells Advocates Who Want Biking/Walking Trail Along Diaper Row

Bryce Stephens left the Jefferson County Courthouse a bit disappointed this morning, learning that he’ll have to wait before his vision of improving pedestrian and bicycle traffic along 21st Avenue South can come to reality.

“It’s complicated,” said Stephens, president of the Red Mountain Cut Foundation. “Birmingham would like to handle it a different way. I think they support the improvements on the street. I think that is no question.”
Stephens had hoped that the County Commission would make the appropriate approval for the county to apply for a federal TAP grant. Read more.

New Bike- and Scooter-Sharing Service OK’d for Birmingham

A new micromobility service has been approved to operate in Birmingham despite open doubt from city councilors that such businesses are worth the trouble. Councilors approved allowing the Lime bike- and scooter-sharing business to operate in the Magic City, although some councilors suggested tightening city ordinances to make sure e-bikes and e-scooters don’t become a public nuisance, particularly if customers leave them randomly on sidewalks and streets rather than returning them. Read more.

Should Taxi Fares Be Increased Because of Rising Gas Prices? Birmingham Sets Public Hearing to Decide

The Birmingham City Council will hold a public hearing on June 21 to discuss raising maximum taxicab fares in response to rising fuel costs.

District 5 Councilor Darrell O’Quinn, chair of the council’s transportation committee, said the council had been approached several times by local taxicab companies — mostly zTrip — expressing concerns over rising gas prices.

“Those are costs that are borne by the drivers, so they have requested that we revisit the ordinance that sets the taxicab fare and have specifically requested consideration of a temporary surcharge to address the increased fuel costs,” he said. Read more.