ALDOT: Changes to Cherokee and Hampton Inn intersections to proceed

Alabama Department of Transportation Director John Cooper put his foot down Wednesday night, Feb. 6.

“So, is this it?” asked Mountain Brook City Councilor Billy Pritchard, addressing Cooper in front of more than 300 at Mountain Brook Junior High.

“I believe, and ALDOT believes, this is the plan that is appropriate at this time,” Cooper said.

And with that, the workshop held to discuss changes to U.S. 280 intersections in Mountain Brook ended, leaving many feeling a compromise had not been reached between residents of Mountain Brook – specifically those served by the intersection of Cherokee Road and U.S. 280 – and those who seek to change it.

With Cooper’s word, what can be expected by November 2013 is a much different system of traffic flow surrounding the Cherokee Road and Hampton Inn/Kovac Center intersections.

At Cherokee Road, the signal will not be closed, but left turns and direct travel across the intersection from side streets will be removed.

A U-turn lane and median cut-through originally proposed in front of Birmingham Water Works Cahaba Pump House has been relocated to Overton Road.

Skipper Consulting President Darrell Skipper, who presented the proposal Feb. 6, said the cut-through was moved based on submitted comments. Many, he said, were concerned with protecting drivers coming from South Cherokee Road. Those drivers will now have an acceleration lane and 2,800 feet to merge into the U-turn lane at Overton Road.

ALDOT will also install a signal at Overton Road, which will be timed with the signal at Rocky Ridge Road. The signal will prevent drivers from making unobstructed turns from 280 to Overton as they can now, but will protect drivers making U-turns.

Skipper said the maneuvers that will now be required of drivers at Cherokee and Overton are “not inherently unsafe” and are common in the Birmingham area. He added that both he and Cooper, as well as other “test drivers” between the ages of 17 and 70, have performed the maneuver more than 100 times and believe safety will not be compromised.

At Hampton Inn, the signal will be removed, ending left turns onto the highway from side streets and direct travel across the intersection. Left turns from 280 onto the side streets will be unprotected.

Left turns from Office Park onto U.S. 280 will be retained, though travel directly across the intersection will cease.

Since ALDOT presented its proposed 280 intersection improvement plan in November 2012, the Mountain Brook City Council has voiced opposition but held off on passing a resolution, mainly at the urging of ALDOT. When the revised plan was introduced in January and did not include retaining left turns from Cherokee Road and at the Hampton Inn/Kovac Center onto U.S. 280, the Council put its displeasure on record.

The resolution, passed Jan. 28, requested that the revised plan be further modified to include signalized left turns at these intersections. Skipper said in order to retain those, ALDOT would need to drastically extend delays for drivers on side streets. Council President Virginia Smith said that would be just fine.

“If residents are willing to live with longer wait times to keep their left turn, I think that is a compromise,” she said.

Smith added that ALDOT had been very responsive to the Council during the process. She also said the Council has submitted its resolution in opposition to Gov. Robert Bentley and would pursue help from local Alabama legislators in getting the governor’s attention on the matter.