Roundabout information session yields positive comments
On Tuesday evening, the city of Mountain Brook, together with members of ALDOT and SAIN Associates, held a public information meeting at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens regarding the roundabout project that is currently underway for Mountain Brook Village.
The project includes two roundabouts adjacent to each other: a smaller traffic circle that would connect U.S. 280 with Cahaba Road and Culver Road and lead a transition into a second traffic circle, which would connect U.S. 280 with Cahaba Road and Lane Parke Road, as well as the Lane Parke developments.
As residents and area locals who frequent the Mountain Brook Village area walked around the session, they were encouraged to ask questions about the project, view maps and videos and take part in a small-scale simulation. Steve Haynes, regional pre-construction engineer for ALDOT, said that while this meeting was a required step, stakeholders wanted to inform residents about the project and take up comments.
“I think everybody was a little nervous, at first, because it’s new,” he said. “I’ve been pleasantly surprised and pleased with the comments.” Haynes said that the feedback he has received has been positive, which City Council President Virginia Smith reiterated.
“I think people are understanding it,” she said. While at the session, she heard questions regarding bicycle and pedestrian functionality with the traffic circles, but said residents seemed to be satisfied. “I’m sure there was somebody in the crowd [who didn’t agree with the project], but I didn’t meet him or her,” she said.
Many local residents echoed those comments, saying they believed the traffic circles could help with traffic congestion.
“I kinda like roundabouts,” said Mountain Brook resident Katie Wiswall. “I think [the project] will be helpful … and it’ll be interesting to see that learning phase for everyone, especially with three [roundabouts, including the one in front of the zoo,] at once.” In a follow-up email, Wiswall mentioned too that as the project progresses, “it is very important for us to be cognizant of the need to do a good job protecting our water resources,” such as those near the gardens and zoo.
Safety was another concern.
Sonja Rieger lives in Forest Park, and although not a Mountain Brook resident she frequents the area. “I know those intersections can be dangerous,” she said. “It looks like [the roundabouts] could be good.”
Generally by including roundabouts in an intersection, the points of conflict between vehicles are reduced and any crashes would be angular crashes, which tend to be less severe than crashes that are at 90 degrees.
“If you drive in Mountain Brook, there’s a lot of conflict points,” Haynes said. “This design is good for urban areas like this.”
A common question that both Haynes and Smith said they received during the session focused on the timeline of the roundabouts, which aren’t set to be complete for another few years. Smith attributed the pace of the project to the many moving parts that are involved as well as the process of working with federal money.
Haynes said that right now, the project is working in the environmental stage. “The next stage is to actively start the design,” he said. “That’ll be our next big step … to get the actual design started.” Right now, the drawings that have been on display are conceptual.
“After this meeting, we got positive comments … I think the design should go forward,” Haynes said. He continued that the design process will involve doing surveys of the area and determining “where [the roundabouts] will actually fit on the earth.”
“Most of the public seems to be positive, which is very good for us,” Haynes said. “I think there will be enough positive comments for us to move ahead with the [final] design.”