UPDATE: Bessemer expects Spring 2024 completion of pedestrian bridge [PHOTOS]

The long-awaited City of Bessemer pedestrian bridge over Highway 150 connecting the community’s popular recreation center to a rails to trail path is nearing completion.

According to Mayor Kenneth Gulley the bridge will be ready for public use this spring.

Why did Bessemer need a bridge?

“Our objective was to connect the rec center to the walking trail. This way our citizens can cross over state Highway 150 from the rec center to the walking trail without having to cross a busy highway.”

~ Bessemer Mayor Kenneth Gulley

Plans for the bridge began in 2019 after the Recreation Center and rail to trail was completed. Eighty percent of the funding for the project came from a federal grant. Bessemer, Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham and other groups provided the 20% match to enable the project to move forward.

The project was delayed when the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic struck in March 2020.

Bessemer deserves a first class trail, bridge and rec center

“We want to make sure that our citizens are healthy. That was the reason for building the recreation facility. We want to make sure that they’re safe. That is the reason for building the pedestrian bridge. And the walking trail — we wanted to give our residents some of the amenities other cities have throughout America. We think that our citizens are deserving.”

~ Bessemer Mayor Kenneth Gulley 

What’s next Bessemer

In the long run, city leaders stated in a 2019 news release that they envision the Bessemer trail to stretch from the city’s Historic Downtown to Lakeshore Drive, where it can connect in the future to the trails in Red Mountain Park as part of the Red Rock Trail System.

There is still much work to be done. In the meantime the $15 million Bessemer recreation center, which opened in September 2016 at Roosevelt Park continues to grow and will only become more popular thanks to the new pedestrian bridge.