The Birmingham Civil Rights Crossroads:
Reconnecting Historic Neighborhoods Through Active Mobility
The Birmingham Civil Rights Crossroads: Reconnecting Historic Neighborhoods Through Active Mobility RAISE project creates a 3.16-mile urban trail that traverses a pivotal landscape in America’s Civil Rights Movement. The project’s footprint is located in an area that was once one of our nation’s most prominent Black commercial centers with a high concentration of Black business ownership. The proposed trail corridor took center stage in a walkable, thriving community, but the area no longer resembles its past. While much of downtown Birmingham has started to revitalize, many low-income and underserved neighborhoods surrounding downtown have not experienced the same level of investment in transportation or public spaces. These neighborhoods actively involved the Civil Rights Movement, including Graymont and Smithfield, are separated from downtown—and therefore from necessary everyday destinations— by unsafe roadways and major highways I-20 and I-65. This project will provide an essential multimodal connection from some of Birmingham’s most underserved and under-invested neighborhoods to essential services downtown.
APPLICATION DOCUMENTS
Birmingham Civil Rights Crossroads FY2023 RAISE Grant
City of Birmingham Council Resolution
SUPPLEMENTAL PLANS & STUDIES
Birmingham City Center Master Plan
Master Plan
Northwest Downtown Quadrant Plan
Red Rock Action Plan
Smithfield, A Choice Neighborhood: Honoring the Past, Envisioning the Future
The Red Rock Ridge and Valley Trail System
LETTERS OF SUPPORT
US CONGRESS
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Birmingham City Council
Birmingham Jefferson County Transit Authority
City of Birmingham Park & Recreation
Fountain Heights Neighborhood Association
Housing Authority of the Birmingham District
Jefferson County Department of Health
ORGANIZATIONS
Birmingham Urban Mountain Pedalers
Birmingham Civil Rights Institute
Birmingham Business Association
Civil Rights Activist Committee/Foot Soldiers
Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham
Greater Birmingham Convention & Visitors Bureau
Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham
St Paul United Methodist Church