By JESSA PEASE / Staff Writer

PELHAM— Intersection improvements to State Park Road have long been discussed in Pelham, as well as concerns with safety along the narrow road. To present information on the proposed project that would address those issues, ALDOT held a public involvement meeting at Oak Mountain State Park Dec. 10.

The project proposed widening State Park Road, from Amphitheater Drive to John Findlay Drive, from 21 feet to 24 feet, and adding 8-foot paved shoulders to each side. Those shoulders would be serve as bike lanes, and would improve safety on the road.

In addition, a round-a-bout would be constructed to replace the existing four-way stop at the intersection of State Park Road and County Road 35.

“It’s been a long time coming, and there was a lot of apprehension of what the proposed product would be,” said Pelham Mayor Gary Waters. “I’m very pleased with what I’m seeing. It takes issue with all the concerns I’ve had with the danger of that road as it is today.”

On average, there are about 30 accidents on that road a year, according to Shelby County representative Trey Gauntt. He said there have been four fatalities on the road in the past 10 years, the latest being in October.

“There are a lot of cyclists that make a loop through here and the road gets pretty tight right here, especially at the tree tunnel section,” Gauntt said. “They just have no shoulder to get on. It’ll really improve safety not only for cyclists, but the motorists too.”

After consulting with the public, Gauntt said they can begin additional design work and hope to start the right-of-way acquisition in summer 2016. He said an optimistic start date for construction is spring 2017.

Waters said some people are under the assumption that the bike lanes and road improvements are tied to the currently dormant lodge project. However, Waters said the projects are completely separate.

“Even if there are no improvements made to Oak Mountain State Park, this current arrangement for an entrance is insufficient,” he said. “If this was the entrance for Oak Mountain State Park only, we may be able to tolerate it, but this is used like a city street with commuter traffic, school traffic, RV traffic, you name it.”

Jack White owns a building off State Park Road and said he just heard about the project, which is why he decided to attend the meeting. He said the project doesn’t seem like it will adversely the properties.

“Fortunately, the way my property looks, it sits back off the road enough that them taking some right-of-way from our existing property isn’t going to effect us,” White said. “I’m not really that concerned about it. From what I see, I don’t see where there is going to be a situation where anybody is very adversely effected.”

One concern that has been addressed is the fate of the tree tunnel. Along one section of State Park Road, the trees are about one foot away in some places.

Widening the road would cut into those trees, but Gauntt said they do not know how much they would be clearing. He explained that they do not have the exact dimensions for the clearing work. They have preliminary clearing limits, but they could change.

“The tree tunnel as you see it today will change,” Gauntt said. “The trees won’t be a foot to a foot-and-a-half away from the road, which is a bad thing anyway.”