A look ahead at 2026: From infrastructure fixes to school capacity, city leaders set the agenda for the year ahead

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Trussville enters 2026 with excitement, change and a big to-do list. A new mayor and the city’s youngest council in recent history are promising visible fixes — parking and traffic at the sports complex, safer crossings, better pedestrian links — as they tune the city’s long-range plan for the years ahead while keeping the city’s community feel intact.

New Mayor Ben Short calls it “a year of visible progress and foundational planning,” with an emphasis on communication.

“We will continue to share updates, invite community input and explain not just what we are doing but why we are doing it,” Short said.

New Administration: Conservative Spend, Infrastructure First

Short says the quickest visible changes will center on roads and walkability.

First up: more than 200 new parking spaces at the Trussville Sports Complex, a much-requested upgrade by residents frustrated with game-day congestion. Work began last month, just weeks after Short assumed office.

“Early in the year, residents will see progress on parking expansions within the sports complex, updates to pedestrian crossings and traffic-flow adjustments in key areas,” Short said.

Some larger moves will start with survey work, design renderings and engineering studies, Short said.

Councilmember Jaime Melton Anderson, who also serves on the finance committee, put the fiscal state plainly, explaining that planning for Trussville’s future is imperative.

“My No. 1 goal is putting more money away in reserves and cutting down on expenses,” Anderson said, planning monthly finance updates for the public to see.

Short’s broader goal?

“Strengthening infrastructure, improving public safety visibility and operations, modernizing city facilities and positioning our departments to serve a growing population efficiently,” he said.

Downtown, Phase 2: Cahaba Station

Across the tracks from TED, the public-private reboot of the former Hall’s Motorsports building is framed as an aesthetics-first addition that fits downtown’s character.

“Cahaba Station is a promising prospective private development, and we are approaching it with intentionality,” Short said. “This project gives us the opportunity to set a higher standard for how development should be done in Trussville.”

Trussville 2040: From Vision to Code and Maps

Expect more rule-writing — design standards, overlays and corridor priorities that determine what can be built and where. The residents asked for it and the leaders heard them.

“We will absolutely begin moving components of Trussville 2040 forward — foundational work, traffic, connectivity, redevelopment corridors, green space planning and updated design standards,” Short said.

Anderson called it essential core planning for the way Trussville looks and feels in the years and decades to come.

“Updating the design standard and our master plan for the city — that is crucial,” Anderson said. “It’s not moving dirt, but it is the important work to lay the foundation because the master plan has not been updated in decades.”

School Overcrowding: Capacity and Safe Routes

Enrollment pressure remains a top issue citywide.

“We are committed to working closely with Trussville City Schools to anticipate needs rather than react,” Short said.

Conversations and strategies will continue about facilities, traffic management, safe routes and ensuring that growth — residential and commercial — aligns with the school system’s long-term capacity planning.

Anderson, the new council liaison to the school board, pointed to active projects, as well as recognition that there are decisions to be made with the state’s largest elementary school, Paine Elementary, which serves more than 1,300 students.

“The new elementary school and updates to the middle school and the C wing are all projects that are in the works,” Anderson said.

Vape Tax: Deterrence First, Revenue Second

Effective Jan. 1, Trussville’s new $0.10 per mL vape tax applies citywide to vape products sold within the city limits, including convenience stores/gas stations.

“The vape tax was created with two goals: to deter youth vaping and to ensure the city captures revenue from a growing retail segment,” Short said.

While it’s early to project totals, he said the funds can support public safety, enforcement and education initiatives surrounding youth health.

The “shop local” push is an emphasis that makes the bigger goals possible through revenue.

“We have had declining brick-and-mortar sales tax,” Anderson said. “We really want to encourage folks to shop local,” he said, with the city supporting the chamber and the Downtown Merchants Association and using social media to amplify the message.

Pharmacist and Downtown Merchants Association board member Greg Carroll said buying local is a win-win for everyone.

“It’s much more beneficial to shop local so more of your money stays in the community,” Carroll said.

The DMA’s mission is to drive the public into Trussville stores and educate them through efforts such as Retail Week, Trussville Gives Back and the Cookie Walk. The constraint is capacity.

“We don’t have the resources to have a big shop-local education campaign,” Carroll said. “It’s just difficult to get the resources and time.”

Overall, Anderson emphasized the success of past work and those who achieved it, even as the city tunes for what’s next.

“We want to honor everything that councils before us and mayors before us have done,” Anderson said. “But we’re turning an eye to the future to improve the infrastructure and control the growth.”