A24 • December 2021
Hoover Sun
BROCK’S GAP
CONTINUED from page A1 and gave easier access to and from the mineral-rich terrain in central Alabama. Members of the Birmingham Historical Society became alarmed when they learned the city of Hoover wanted to build a new parkway through that area, fearing the historical pathway would be obliterated. SB Development, a company affiliated with Signature Homes, owns a 73-acre piece of land that contains the entire Brock’s Gap cut, Belcher said. The property is adjacent to Hoover, but currently is outside the city limits in unincorporated parts of Jefferson and Shelby counties, he said. However, his company has committed to donate the right of way to the city for a parkway city officials say is needed to help relieve traffic congestion in western Hoover.
LIMITED IMPACT
His company sees the Brock’s Gap cut as an amenity and doesn’t want to see it destroyed either, he said. He believes the city can build the proposed parkway without destroying the cut, but there will need to be some compromises, he said. “Sections of it [the Brock’s Gap cut] are going to have to be modified,” Belcher said. Based on his preliminary assessment of the topography, “I think you can limit your impact to just two to three places.” But, there still are some unknown factors. First, the parkway won’t happen unless the city gets a commitment from the federal government to build a new Interstate 459 interchange that connects with South Shades Crest Road, Belcher said. Then, the parkway’s impact on the northern part of the Brock’s Gap cut will depend on where the parkway connects with South Shades Crest Road, Belcher said. Hoover City Administrator Allan Rice has said the city likely won’t spend money on engineering for the parkway until the interstate interchange is more certain. Belcher said he has done some preliminary assessment of the 73 acres his company owns
A road leads through the historic Brock’s Gap cut, completed in 1871, between South Shades Crest Road and Stadium Trace Parkway. Photo by Erin Nelson.
and could see the parkway going through the middle of his property, staying away from the Brock’s Gap cut for the most part until it needs to cross it. Signature Homes wants to use the Brock’s Gap cut as a pedestrian pathway to help connect Ross Bridge and the Everlee community to 10 miles of mountain bike trails his company built in Trace Crossings, and eventually to historic coke ovens across the Cahaba River in Helena, Belcher said. “For us, that old railbed will serve as a great connector trail that’s already built, so we like having that there,” he said. “It enhances the communities we create.” The existing road going through part of the Brock’s Gap cut is a beautiful road with 70-foot
hardwoods on both sides of it and currently is being used as an entrance to the Brock’s Gap Training Center and access road for emergency vehicles to get to Signature Homes’ Blackridge development, Belcher said. His company bought the 73 acres that contain the Brock’s Gap cut primarily for the emergency access until a new fire station could be built to serve Lake Wilborn and Blackridge, he said. His company has already filled in a couple hundred feet of the Brock’s Gap cut near Blackridge so fire trucks would have no more than a 15% grade to access Stadium Trace Parkway, he said. “We did it for safety reasons.” Another factor affecting the layout of the parkway is whether the Brock’s Gap Training
Center is willing to sell its 110 acres to make way for the rest of the parkway, Belcher said. “Them being willing to sell allows a lot more flexibility for the parkway and gives you a lot more opportunity to avoid the existing railbed that’s there,” he said.
PROPERTY RIGHTS
Belcher said he believes his company’s goals, for the most part, align with those of the Birmingham Historical Society, but he was frustrated with actions of one of the society’s board members. Board member Birgit Kibelka tried to arrange a visit to the cut with Belcher in March, but Belcher postponed the visit, saying he wanted to wait until he had more information about
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