Photo by Savannah Schmidt
Two kids walk down Halbrook Lane in Mountain Brook, Ala. in the grass. Soon, the government will add sidewalks to these streets that experience through-traffic.
There are plenty of things to keep an eye out for in Mountain Brook in 2025. To kick off the new year, we’re highlighting five things worth attention in the new year, including plan for new sidewalks throughout the city.
The city will be building sidewalks along Montclair Road this year, and possibly in a few other spots.
Construction on the Montclair Road sidewalk should start this month, according to city manager Sam Gaston, and some clearing work has already been done.
“We're excited about that project,” he said. “It'll provide great linkage to two other existing segments of sidewalk, leading people to English Village as well as Crestline Village.”
Mountain Brook received an award of federal Transportation Alternatives Program funding for the project, which will extend from Country Club Road to Mountain Brook Park Drive. Most of the new sidewalk will be constructed along Montclair Road, although a short segment will be constructed along Shannon Lane to tie to the existing sidewalk on Memory Lane.
The City has also secured federal funding with ALDOT to design and construct a sidewalk along Pine Ridge Road from Overbrook Road to Old Leeds Road.
The design of the project was approximately 75% complete in the fall of 2024, and the city is in the process of acquiring right-of-way and temporary easements necessary for the project. Right-of-way or easements are needed from over 30 property owners, so they hope to complete the right-of-way acquisitions in about a year, which would allow for construction to begin in late 2025, pending ALDOT approvals.
Sidewalks along Halbrook Lane have also been under conversation as Mountain Brook residents have raised concerns over traffic along the street. Halbrook Lane and Arundel Drive have been a topic of conversation at many City Council meetings in the past two years, and the streets have seen several changes in 2024, with the potential for more to come.
“Public Works will probably be doing some sidewalks on Halbrook Lane,” said Gaston. “We've had all these discussions about traffic reduction on that street and Arundel. And so we may be proceeding on the sidewalks on Halbrook Lane this coming fiscal year too.”
Mountain Brook’s council first took up the issue in late 2022 after residents reached out, and officials continue to look for a solution. Last year, they passed a no-through-traffic ordinance and installed corresponding signs in May, placed speed humps on streets on July 18-19 and added chicanes on July 23.
After further conversation, the no-through-traffic ordinance was removed and replaced with a no-truck ordinance, and the chicanes were also recently removed. Analysis of the size and placement of the speed humps is also underway.
Many have mentioned sidewalks as a possible solution to the safety concerns caused by traffic issues.
Check out the rest of the articles in our 5 Changes for 2025 series here.
