Growing into 2020 in Trussville: Population rise, technology, infrastructure improvements lead growth

The future of Trussville will become clearer in 2020.

Business and housing development, population growth, new technologies, Parks and Recreation additions, infrastructure improvements and the opening of an entertainment district are likely to dominate the year’s happenings.

Several restaurants that opened in 2019 will have their first full year in 2020, not to mention the retail shopping opportunities Trussville offers. The city expects around $35 million in revenue during the 2019-20 fiscal year, about a 3 percent increase over last year.

Kevin Sargent, co-owner of The Sargent McDonald Team and director of business development for RealtySouth in Trussville, said Mayor Buddy Choat and the Trussville City Council do a great job of working together to build a strategic plan to handle the challenges of growth and bringing in businesses to support the needs of Trussville’s population.

“This administration is pro-business and is always looking to make Trussville the most attractable option for companies to choose from,” Sargent said. “Also, rent rates are still some of the most competitive in the Birmingham metro area, especially considering the infrastructure in place in Trussville. All any business owner needs to do to see this for themselves is drive around Trussville on a Thursday through Saturday night and see every restaurant with a wait out the door.”

Sargent’s words are certainly believable. The 2010 Census reported 19,933 residents of Trussville. In 2020, city officials expect that number to increase to around 23,500, if not more.

“I think it’s realistic to think that Trussville could easily hit the 30,000 to 35,000 population,” Choat said of the 20-year outlook for Trussville. “There’s a lot of interest in the way that Trussville is changing, a good change.”

The Valley Road extension opened in 2019 and will certainly gain more drivers in 2020. The road allows motorists to get from the U.S. 11 side of Trussville to the North Chalkville Road side, or vice versa, without cutting through downtown.

“It’s a good drive,” Choat said. “People are using it.”

Choat said a road widening project should begin and end in 2020. A turn lane will be added on Main Street and will run up the middle of the road from the intersection of Chalkville Road and Main Street all the way to Parkway Drive. Essentially, a current lane will become the turn lane and the city will acquire right-of-way to add a right lane to make up for the turn lane addition.

“We’ve needed it,” Choat said. “That’ll help traffic a little bit.”

Additionally, Trussville has debuted preemptive equipment for emergency signal switching, which will help emergency vehicles get through traffic lights at a quicker pace. Technology installed near approximately 26 traffic lights in the city communicate with modules inside emergency vehicles, allowing the lights to be controlled remotely so that the emergency vehicles can get through green lights. The traffic signals can also be tailored to control traffic fl ow in Trussville. This will require many traffic surveys and studies, but it will help motorists get to where they are going quicker.

“But that, in itself, you’re talking about a better quality of life, to be able to get around and not have to sit in traffic,” Trussville Police Chief Eric Rush said.

Recreationally, the 15- to 18-year-old baseball field in the Trussville Sports Complex is likely to be converted into a multipurpose field sometime in 2020 for soccer and lacrosse, sports that continue to grow in participation numbers due to young families moving to Trussville.

“Trussville is on a roll,” Sargent said. “With some of the top schools in the state, one of the most pro-business municipal administrations this city has ever had, we have nowhere to go but up. Trussville has comparable or better-ranked schools than all of the other popular Birmingham suburbs like Mountain Brook, Vestavia, Hoover, but cost of living is still relatively lower but climbing. Your dollar will go further in Trussville for a great house with space than other communities. However, people are starting to catch on and flock to Trussville.”

With an increasing population, there is a rise in home construction. Neighborhoods such as Stockton continue to see new homes popping up.

“Homes zoned for Trussville City Schools under $200,000 tend to disappear as soon as they hit the market, and homes up to $250,000 are just as scarce,” said Jonny Cates, a Trussville Realtor and director of operations at Sold South Realty.

Cates said the new entertainment district under construction in downtown Trussville is adding excitement not only for current Trussville residents, but also for first-time home buyers.

“I believe you will see an influx of new buyers looking to be as close to the Trussville Entertainment District (as possible),” Cates said. “These are the neighborhoods near the new entertainment district that I expect to see young families wanting to be in: Still Oaks, Hidden Trace and Hawkridge subdivisions are the top neighborhoods south of the development project for growth.”

The entertainment district is scheduled to open in June. There will be shops, restaurants and an entertainment stage. The anchor of the district, Ferus Artisan Ales, opened in October. The district’s developer, Coby Lake, has said his hope is that Trussville’s downtown becomes the heartbeat of the city. Choat said he looks forward to seeing new people come to Trussville instead of Lakeview, Avondale and other areas around the Birmingham metro area.

“I’m really anxious to see the completion of the entertainment district and what a difference it makes in Trussville,” he said.

Beyond the tangible items and scheduled projects in 2020, there certainly is more on the horizon for Trussville. A new Trussville Fire Department station is a priority and will likely be located in the Trussville-Clay Road area. An office park with three- and four-story buildings has been presented as a conceptual drawing.

“That’s something that we envision important to Trussville, not to bring more people to Trussville, but to bring more people to work in Trussville,” Choat said.

A full-time economic development employee is something that Trussville may look at in the not-so-distant future, someone who can recruit jobs and companies to Trussville, to help set a city’s identity. Those are all things on the horizon, but the impetus for that future has already begun.

“In 2020, I think the whole landscape of Trussville will have changed with the development of downtown with new sidewalks, streetscapes, lights, a new intersection at the Braden’s corner, new stores, new shopping opportunities,” Choat said. “I think that’s the change. We’ll continue to try to grow our existing shopping centers and retail, but I think the big change is going to be what is this going to do to Trussville and what does it mean to us, because as our population grows, the demand on our services is greater.”

Choat, along with the City Council, will also have to find time among all the projects and happenings, both known and unknown at this point, to campaign for re-election in August. Choat feels as if the entertainment district will be the main focus throughout the year.

“I think [2020] will all be about that being finished and seeing how it’s received, see what it does to the face of Trussville and the perception of Trussville outside our city limits,” he said. “I think it’s going to be positive for us. I really do.”