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Temporary Canterbury Road closure extended to early January

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Photo by Lexi Coon.

In keeping with the traffic study being conducted through the closure of a section of Canterbury Road, Mountain Brook City Council looked at a proposed extension for the closure’s timeline during its meeting on Sept. 25.

After much consideration, the motion was approved to extend the closure through early January

Alicia Bailey with Sain Associates began the discussion by revisiting the purpose behind the temporary closure, which is for the roundabouts project the city has been working on. 

She said the city needed to prove the closure would alleviate traffic and make future roundabouts feasible for the city through traffic counts. If they are unable to provide evidence that the closure would be effective, Mountain Brook would be at risk of losing the federal funding that is aiding the project, she said.

The portion of Canterbury Road between Cahaba Road and Village Circle has been closed for nearly a month in an attempt to get traffic counts before, during and after the start of school and in the meantime, both city officials and Sain Associates have received resident and merchant feedback.

Although council president Virginia Smith said the closure has alleviated some nearby intersections, residents have commented on the increased traffic in Mountain Brook Village, which is in part due to construction on Lane Park Road and Overhill Road. 

City Manager Sam Gaston said the city did not have a clear start date on the work for Overhill Road — which is being done by the county — until recently. Both he and Public Works Director Ronnie Vaughn said the county did not set a meeting with the city to discuss the matter, with Gaston adding "The county could do much better," in terms of that communication.

Resident Michael Turnbough, manager of the Raymond James office at Brookwood Village, said the closure has altered his morning route considerably and has affected businesses in the area. Jean Clayton, owner of Christine’s on Canterbury, agreed.

“This is definitely having an impact on these businesses,” said Clayton. “There are so many comments from customers. There are even people who are avoiding the entire village because of construction and heading to Homewood.”

Fellow merchant Jan Harrison also mentioned that residents have faced confusion with the closure, with some backing up at the intersection of Culver Road and Canterbury Road, and Clayton added she has heard others believe the entirety of Canterbury Road is or will be closed.

Clayton and Harrison requested the council remove the closure and reinstate the barriers sometime around the New Year, thus delaying the study to allow for a normal holiday season.

“My concern is, ‘Ok, we defer.’ It seems to make sense,” said councilman Lloyd Shelton. “But at some point, if it becomes permanent, how is that going to affect business?” 

Councilman Billy Pritchard said that if the study is delayed, it will likely be affected by other construction projects, such as when the old bank at Mountain Brook Shopping Center is torn down and the second phase of Lane Parke Shopping Center begins. Bailey added that delaying the temporary closure will only set the roundabout project further

Officials also said the barricades themselves — large, plastic, orange and white barriers with “event” written on them — are not helping matters, either. Councilwoman Alice Womack suggested beautifying the intersection to make that area of the village more welcoming.

She said the barriers should look more permanent, and additional signage needs to be placed in the area to highlight that Canterbury Road businesses are open.

Under the proposed extension, Bailey suggested the city leave the temporary closure until at least Nov. 10 to allow for the completion of nearby construction projects. If the projects stay on schedule, this would allow Sain Associates to gather the data necessary to review the effectiveness of the future roundabouts, although Bailey said she felt that date was “the earliest as you’d want to do it.”

“That date of Nov. 10 is contingent on Overhill and Lane Park being back open. If those are not back open, then that date is no longer good,” she said. “Certainly, pushing it further is acceptable for us because that would allow what it looks like during the busy season.”

Pritchard suggested a motion to extend the temporary closure through Jan. 9 with a caveat that the city works to create a more welcoming and permanent-looking structure for the barrier with improved signage for clarity.

“It’s temporary, because it’s still being evaluated, but let’s make it look like it’s permanent,” he said. 

All council members, save Shelton, approved the motion to extend the temporary Canterbury Road closure until Jan. 9, 2018.

Also during City Council, members:

The next meeting will take place on Oct. 9.

Editor's note: This article was updated on Sept. 26 at 8:45 a.m. to clarify that Canterbury Road is only closed between Cahaba Road and Village Circle.

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