Drive south on Deerfoot Parkway around 5:15 on a weekday and you already know the story. Two lanes squeeze toward the I-59 ramp, brake lights stack past the Cahaba River bridge, and by the time you clear Highway 11 you have burned ten minutes on a stretch that should take three. If you live in The Crossings at Deerfoot, this is your commute, your grocery run, and your route to almost every ballgame, restaurant, and school pickup that matters.
That corridor is about to be rebuilt. Not resurfaced, not restriped. Rebuilt. And the commercial map at both ends of it is shifting in the same window. This post is the short version of what a Crossings resident should actually be tracking through the fall and into 2027.
The two-lane problem, stated plainly
Deerfoot Parkway was completed in 1994 with the opening of I-59's Exit 143, and it has been a four-mile connector between Trussville at Highway 11 and Clay at Old Springville Road ever since. Traffic counts have not stayed in the 1994 range. Jefferson County's Director of Roads and Transportation, Chris Nicholson, put the current volume at roughly 20,000 vehicles per day across the two lanes that feed the interstate.
At 20,000 cars a day, a two-lane parkway is not a parkway. It is a queue with a name. Trussville Mayor Ben Short described the widening plan as "laying the foundation on Deerfoot Parkway for what will be a significant traffic relief valve along Highway 11."
"Really, it's a great day for the region. It just shows the importance of regional cooperation." — Mayor Ben Short, Feb. 23, 2026 press conference
What actually gets built, and when
The February 2026 announcement was not another study. It was the moment funding, sponsors, and a bid calendar landed in the same document. Here is the working timeline as reported by Jefferson County and confirmed at the joint press conference with Homewood, Mountain Brook, and Birmingham officials.
| Phase | What happens | When |
|---|---|---|
| Environmental and permitting | ALDOT processing and federal agreement finalization | Balance of 2026 |
| Bid opening | Deerfoot Parkway widening goes out to bid | Spring 2027 |
| Construction | Two-lane parkway rebuilt as a five-lane thoroughfare between Hwy 11 and I-59 | 2027–2028, roughly 12 months |
| Funding | ~$4M federal appropriation championed by Sen. Katie Britt and Rep. Robert Aderholt; balance from Jefferson County roads and bridge dollars | Secured Feb. 2026 |
| Total project cost | Approximately $5 million to $5.5 million | — |
Read that fourth row twice. The Crossings sits directly on the segment being widened. When crews mobilize in 2027, "the road out front" and "the construction zone" will be the same address for about a year.
The Highway 11 end is getting a $25M anchor
The southern end of your corridor is not standing still while the parkway waits for its bid opening. In March 2026, the Trussville City Council began reviewing a $25 million private redevelopment of the former Chocolate Biscuit site at Watterson Parkway and Highway 11. Mayor Short confirmed the anchor tenant would be a national grocery retailer, with projected annual sales of roughly $25 million on top of the construction spend.
The city attached conditions that matter to anyone driving Deerfoot every day:
- A widened Highway 11 with a new dedicated right-turn lane at the intersection
- Widening of Watterson Parkway approaches
- Intersection improvements designed to relieve the same Hwy 11 congestion the parkway widening is meant to address
Put those two projects on the same map. You have a grocery anchor with mandatory road work at one end of the corridor and a five-lane parkway rebuild at the other. The Crossings sits between them.
What is opening on the corridor right now
Long before the bulldozers arrive in 2027, the dining map is already being redrawn. If you have not visited these in a while, catch up before the road cones do.
- Jack's at 4604 Deerfoot Parkway. The chain used this site to launch its updated store design, opening Dec. 31, 2024 with porch seating, rocking chairs, and a window into the scratch biscuit line. Regional director Jimmy Mize framed it as a second Trussville flag for the brand.
- Metro Diner. Located on Highway 11 between Tutwiler Drive and Calumet Parkway, in the same development that brought Chicken Salad Chick to that stretch.
- Taco Mama. The Birmingham-area Mexican concept has announced a Trussville location.
- The Filling Station. The Crestwood pizza restaurant is opening a Trussville outpost.
- Peach Cobbler Factory at 5870 Trussville Crossings Blvd, Suite 110, and Walk-On's Sports Bistreaux at 5533 Vanlerberghe Lane, both close enough to fold into a Crossings weeknight without touching the interstate.
If you have out-of-town family in for a weekend, you no longer have to drive them into Birmingham to prove Trussville has a food scene. It has one. You live inside it.
The Gateway is closer than the map suggests
The Gateway, Trussville's downtown Entertainment District at 119 Beech Street, has quietly become the highest-density block of things to do inside the city limits. From The Crossings, it is a short hop down Highway 11. The city adopted an open container ordinance that lets you carry a drink between venues within district hours, Sunday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Names worth knowing if you have not been recently:
- Ferus Artisan Ales anchors the pavilion and hosts a rotating events calendar
- Corbeau Wine Bar at 160 Morrow Avenue, opened May 2023 by sisters Mary and Elizabeth Martin
- Umami at 215 Bell Way, opened 2024 by Gus Suyasa and Putu Arsana
- Mr. West's Asian Kitchen at 150 Morrow Avenue
- Trussville Social for pool and cornhole, and Axe Downtown for axe throwing
Fall 2026 calendar highlights already on the books at The Gateway include Rockin' For Restoration on August 1, benefiting the Will Bright Foundation with a suggested $10 donation and 7 Bridges (the Eagles tribute) headlining, and the Take Back The Day concert on September 11. The pavilion stage is running additional dates through the fall.
A separate public-private redevelopment is in motion nearby. Seay Construction is repurposing a 35,000-square-foot former motorsports building into a retail and dining hub adjacent to the existing district, structured as a revenue-sharing partnership with the city. Mayor Buddy Choat has said he expects higher-end dining to fill part of the new footprint.
The detour math you should know about now
While the Deerfoot widening waits on 2027, a nearer disruption is already reshaping traffic patterns. ALDOT closed the I-59 northbound ramps at Chalkville Mountain Road in May 2026 for a 40-day incentivized rebuild. When the ramps reopen, each will carry three lanes instead of two. During the closure, the official detour routes drivers to Deerfoot Parkway or south from Highway 459 to Highway 11.
Translation for a Crossings resident: your parkway is temporarily absorbing traffic from a different exit's reconstruction. If evenings feel heavier than usual this summer, that is why. It is also a preview of the corridor's role once the widening is complete. Deerfoot is being positioned as the relief valve, not the back road.
A Saturday that uses all of it
Coffee and a biscuit at the new-design Jack's on Deerfoot. A run to the future grocery anchor site at Watterson and Highway 11 to see the redevelopment footprint for yourself. Lunch at Metro Diner or Walk-On's. An afternoon walk through The Gateway with a stop at Corbeau or Ferus. Dinner at Umami or Mr. West's. Then the pavilion for whatever is on the August or September calendar.
Every stop on that list sits within a short drive of your driveway. Twelve months from now the road connecting them will be under construction. Twenty-four months from now it will be a five-lane spine with a grocery anchor at one end and a growing entertainment district a few minutes past that.
What this means for the address on your mailbox
The Crossings at Deerfoot has always been a location story. What is changing is what the location connects to. A parkway that has been the same for thirty years is being rebuilt with federal money, a $25M commercial anchor is being negotiated at its southern intersection, and a downtown district is filling in with named operators who are staying, not testing the market. The construction window will be real. So will the corridor that comes out the other side.
If you have been considering what your home is worth in this shifting corridor, or you are curious how the widening timeline could shape decisions about when to list, Billy Brodie knows this stretch of Trussville street by street. Reach out for a free home valuation and a straightforward read on where The Crossings fits in the market that is forming around it.
