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The Cahaba Heights Gateway Project’s plan for the new sign welcoming people to Cahaba Heights.

A long-awaited comprehensive plan to improve the aesthetics of Cahaba Heights is now underway.

Known as the Cahaba Heights Gateway project, the planned improvements to Pump House Road from U.S. 280, the main artery into the district, will be a partnership between the city of Vestavia Hills and the Cahaba Heights Merchants Association.

The project includes improvements to a retaining wall running along Pump House Road, pedestrian safety enhancements at the intersection of Dolly Ridge Road and a new sign welcoming residents and visitors into the district.

Spearheaded by Katherine McRee, owner of the Lily Pad children’s boutique and president of the Cahaba Heights Merchants Association, the project is six years in the making. McRee and a handful of business owners formed the CHMA in 2018 to raise funds and advocate for improvements to the area.

Growing up in Mountain Brook’s Crestline community, McRee’s vision for Cahaba Heights is heavily influenced by the neighborhood of her youth.

“The idea behind it was that when businesses work together to bring people together, it improves the entire area,” McRee said. “I grew up in Crestline, and seeing the amount of community events that they have, I wanted to try to replicate that where I live and own a business.”

The CHMA has raised more than $50,000 for the gateway project, which McRee said is an important part of Cahaba Heights’ branding efforts. She also believes the gateway will be the beginning of Cahaba Heights’ transformation into a hot entertainment district.

“Our main goal is for this gateway to show who we are, so you know when you drive into the area you know you’re coming into a really cool, hip area where you want to shop and play and possibly live,” McRee said.

The CHMA hired landscape architect Neil Couvillion, founder of Forme Design Group, and Brian Authement, CEO of the Devote brand consultancy firm — both residents of Cahaba Heights — for design work and branding. Vestavia Hills City Manager Jeff Downes said the city is working closely with the CHMA and other entities, including Jefferson County and the Birmingham Water Works Board, to turn that vision into a reality.

The city hired a traffic engineering firm to study pedestrian walkability at the intersection of Pump House Road and Dolly Ridge Road and hired a contractor to rebuild the triangular median at the intersection. In October, the city also acquired right-of-way access from Jefferson County on Pump House and Dolly Ridge roads, allowing the city to improve landscaping and beautification of the creek running along the intersection.

Downes said the city has placed a priority on the gateway and future upgrades to one of the city’s busiest and most desirable communities and that the collaboration with the CHMA has been “super beneficial.”

“Every day the number of visitors to that area continues to grow. First impressions are lasting impressions, and we don’t want anyone who comes and tries to engage with us and some of these popular venues to be feeling unsafe, feeling unpleasant or to see the aesthetics not be all they can be,” Downes said. “We’re excited that we don’t have to do it ourselves as a city.”

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Cahaba Heights gateway, other improvements taking shape