City roundabouts project continues into new year

The roundabouts project in Mountain Brook Village has been underway for many years now, but it is far from over. The project is using federal money, which can add months and years to any timeline, and the proposed plan could impact many local entities: the city of Birmingham, the Birmingham Zoo, the Birmingham Botanical Gardens, Lane Parke, Mountain Brook village, and of course, the people of Mountain Brook.

Over the course of 2018, Sain Associates Project Engineer Nathan Currie said Sain focused mainly on the environmental and technical studies that have to be completed for a project of this scale. Currie described them as “extra steps we take to be sure that there’s not adverse, not bad impacts on the surrounding environment.”

The main efforts of these studies went to looking at the Red Mountain Cemetery location. As discussed in previous City Council meetings in 2018, Sain used ground-penetrating radar (GPR) to check for any unmarked graves or other anomalies underground. While anomalies were found, Currie said they were shown to be roots and dirt depressions after additional testing, not people laid to rest. 

He said the extra time spent on follow-up tests after the GPR may have taken up a couple extra months of the timeline, but Sain still was able to stay on track with the overall schedule through planning and design.

“Had things [like graves] been discovered  … that would have affected it much more,” Currie said.

Sain Associates and the city of Mountain Brook also installed the Canterbury Road closure to determine whether or not the roundabouts would be effective in the long-run. Currie said the closure has positively affected traffic in the area, which was necessary if the roundabouts project was to continue. 

City Manager Sam Gaston said since the closure will have to be in place permanently when the roundabouts are built, the city is planning on leaving the closure up indefinitely. 

Looking into 2019, Currie said it’s going be much of what the end of 2018 looked like.

Sain Associates will put together a document reviewing the findings from 2018’s studies, which will then be submitted to ALDOT for review and approval, but the company will also spend more time on the planning of the project.

“Really the focus I would say for 2019 is advancing and finalizing that design,” Currie said. Along each step of the way — at about 30 percent, 65 percent and 85-90 percent completion — Sain Associates must submit the plans to ALDOT for review, Currie said, and any comments or annotations are addressed.

“That takes a lot of time, the back and forth,” he said. Additional time has been spent speaking with stakeholders in the project, include Mountain Brook, the zoo, the gardens and Lane Parke.

As of press time, Currie said they were about to make submittal at the roughly 65-percent mark. By the end of the year, Currie would like to be in the process of acquiring the necessary right-of-way to move the project along. The right-of-way in question is mainly in the city of Birmingham, as well as a small corner on the southern end of the zoo.

He said the right-of-way areas have not changed since the public was shown this project in public meetings.

Although engineers and designers will be working on the roundabout projects throughout the year, Currie said no portion of this specific project is expected to affect traffic in the Mountain Brook Village area.

This story is part of our Year in Preview. See more here.