The Five Mile Creek Greenway
Much is left to be done to see the vision of a greenway along 28 miles of Five Mile Creek a reality. If you would like to make a donation to assist in the completion, please make checks payable to Cawaco RC&D and mail to the address shown below. All funds will be used for implementation (construction of trails, purchase of structural amenities for the trail (i.e. signage, benches, etc.), or cash match for grants to accomplish the same.)
Cawaco Resource Conservation & Development Council, Inc.
1731 1st Avenue North, Suite 200
Birmingham, AL 35203
Cawaco RC&D is a 501(c)(3) non-profit serving the people of Blount, Chilton, Jefferson, Shelby and Walker Counties
Any funds designated to Brookside will be made available to the City of Brookside for Greenway construction. www.cawaco.org/fivemilecreek
Five Mile Creek Partnership.
Five Mile Creek has suffered from decades of industrial, mining, and urban pollution and impact. But after the devastating floods of 2001-2003, the communities along Five Mile Creek began to seek a solution to the problems of “Creosote Creek”. The Five Mile Creek Greenway Partnership formed to protect and preserve the water quality and quality of life for residents along Five Mile Creek by protecting streamside buffers and planning for “smart-growth” within the watershed. The Partnership was formed through a Memorandum of Agreement between the cities of Birmingham, Center Point, Tarrant, Fultondale, Brookside, and Graysville, in order to commit to developing a “greenway” buffer along Five Mile Creek. Other partners in this effort include Jefferson County Commission, the Fresh Water Land Trust, Cawaco Resource Conservation and Development Council, the Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham, and many other community agencies and stakeholders.
On Saturday, April 8, 2006, the partnership held its third annual volunteer cleanup along Five Mile Creek. The first one took place, in 2004, in Brookside, where volunteers also built permanent canoe put-ins for recreational use. The second event took place in 2005 in Tarrant, where volunteers helped build the first new park along the Five Mile Creek Greenway.
The Five Mile Creek Greenway Project is a coordinated partnership effort intended to achieve the goals of improving water and air quality by protecting streamside buffers and developing a greenway corridor that encourages the development of adjacent bicycle and pedestrian friendly infrastructure (alternative modes of transportation). A master plan for Five Mile Creek will be developed as a part of the long and short-range transportation planning process while also providing a tool that presents a shared vision for private and public funding sources and elected officials. A formally adopted master plan will serve as a guideline for future planning efforts within and adjacent to the greenway, consistent design standards for trail and bridge construction, best management practices (BMPs), identification of key points of interest for recreation, stream restoration, nonnative plant removal, preservation of critical habitat for wildlife, historic preservation, and environmental education. The master plan will be compatible with the Jefferson County Greenway Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP).
