By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – A project to widen portions of Thompson Road in Alabaster will not affect Thompson High School’s 2015 football season, city leaders said during a Feb. 9 City Council work session.

Through the project, Alabaster is working with the Shelby County Highway Department and the Alabama Department of Transportation to widen the road, replace a bridge over Buck Creek and realign the intersection of Thompson Road and Warrior Drive to allow drivers to travel straight from Warrior Drive into a parking lot at Warrior Park.

While the bridge is being replaced on Warrior Drive, traffic will be rerouted onto a temporary bridge over Buck Creek. On Feb. 9, Alabaster City Manager George Henry said crews likely will have the temporary bridge in place this summer.

The project will add a new westbound turn lane on Thompson Road from Stadium Drive to Warrior Drive and add a sidewalk along Thompson Road from Warrior Drive to Stadium Drive.

Ward 4 Councilman Rick Walters said the county is looking to bid the project in late March or early April in an attempt to have it completed before the THS football season begins in August. Because Thompson Road runs beside the school’s Larry Simmons Stadium, the project will be put on hold if it can not be completed before the season begins, he said.

“They don’t want to have the road torn up in August when football season starts,” Walters said. “If they can’t hit that window, they want to wait.”

As part of the Thompson Road project, Alabaster leaders also are working with the county to extend the Buck Creek Trail from its current terminus near the Alabaster Parks and Recreation office to Thompson High School and the Alabaster YMCA.