Northport Council To Consider $14M Northern Pedestrian & Bike Master Plan Monday

NORTHPORT, AL — The Northport City Council will take on a busy agenda Monday evening, which will include a vote to adopt the proposed Northern Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan aimed at better connecting a rapidly-growing swath in the northern part of the city.

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In February, Northport leaders and engineers from TTL Inc. solicited feedback from the public, receiving overwhelming support for the project.

Designs for the project call for approximately four miles of 12-foot wide shared use path along the northern corridor of the City of Northport, with the paths also complimented by state-of-the-art LED lighting to improve visibility and safety for those walking, running or biking.

"After the town hall meeting at City Hall a few weeks ago, the amount of support for this project was unbelievable," Council President Jeff Hogg told Patch ahead of the vote. "So many citizens and neighborhoods see the need and usefulness of this project. Not one person came to oppose and that speaks volumes for the potential this project can create for the future look and appeal of our great city."

As Patch previously reported, the project will be focused on two main "areas," with the first beginning at the intersection of Frankie Thomas Trace and Rose Boulevard, following parallel to Rose Boulevard, Wildcat Drive, a future access road across the Sullivan property, U.S. Highway 43, and Mitt Lary Road to the intersection of Huntington Place Avenue and Mitt Lary Road.

The second area, according to the proposed master plan, would begin at the intersection of Huntington Place Avenue and Mitt Lary Road, following parallel to Mitt Lary Road and Alabama Highway 69 to the Forest Glen subdivision.

Click here to view the full proposal on the City of Northport's website.

If the master plan is indeed approved by the Northport City Council Monday night, it will then go to the city's Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for approval. The federal government mandates that every metropolitan statistical area with a population of 50,000 or greater have an MPO.

While support has not been in short supply, the biggest hurdle moving forward, as city officials have pointed out, will be funding the costly endeavor.

TTL, Inc. — the Tuscaloosa-based engineering firm handling the project — speculates the total cost for the Northern Bicycle & Pedestrian Master Plan to come out to a little more than $14 million, with the paths themselves coming in at $4 million.

Apart from phase one in the northern part of the city, a proposed second phase of the Pedestrian Path plan would run from the Levee Trailhead, running east back to Kentuck Park, in addition to a path along the river to the south, then up to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Piggly Wiggly.

The Northport City Council will have its full meeting Monday, March 7 at 5:30 p.m.

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