Photo by David Leong.
Drivers navigate the new roundabout at the intersection of Cahaba Road, Chester Road and Lane Park Road in Mountain Brook Village.
Drivers navigate the new roundabout at the intersection of Cahaba Road, Chester Road and Lane Park Road in Mountain Brook Village — part of a $4.4 million project that replaced a notoriously confusing traffic light system.
For motorists living in or driving through Mountain Brook, going in circles has never felt more enjoyable.
“I would say we all have a pretty solid roundabout fever right now,” said Mountain Brook Mayor Graham Smith. “We think the roundabouts have really been a success, and when you hear from people that they like them, or you get positive feedback, that really means a lot.”
Two new roundabouts were officially completed in Mountain Brook Village to help ease traffic congestion.
The project took place along the Birmingham and Mountain Brook city limit boundaries at the intersection of the U.S. 280 off ramp, Cahaba Road, Chester Road and Lane Park Road near the Birmingham Zoo.
Photo courtesy of Sain Associates.
The two roundabouts in Mountain Brook Village represent a collaborative effort between two cities and multiple levels of government. Engineered by Sain Associates, the $4.4 million project straddled the Birmingham and Mountain Brook city limit boundaries, requiring both municipalities to contribute 10% of the total cost while the remaining 80% was funded federally through the Alabama Department of Transportation.
Due to the location straddling two cities, both Birmingham and Mountain Brook contributed 10% to the overall price, while the remaining 80% was federally funded through the Alabama Department of Transportation.
The total cost of the project was roughly $4.4 million.
Sain Associates served as the engineers for the project.
“This area is what visitors to Mountain Brook see when they come to one of Birmingham’s greatest tourist attractions with the Birmingham Zoo and the Birmingham Botanical Gardens,” Smith said. “We were fortunate to be able to work with the city of Birmingham, and I think overall everything has surpassed what we could have hoped for. We are moving traffic smoothly in that area, we have lowered commute times for residents, we have opened up bottlenecks getting through the villages, and we have heard from retail spaces in the area that they have seen an uptick in shopping because motorists are able to get to them a lot easier than they may have been [able to] before.”
Smith said traffic engineers are considering roundabouts to be the “gold standard” when it comes to safety.
She anticipates seeing many more of them built in municipalities throughout the state in coming years.
“I think you could say everyone is going ‘round’ about it because they have been very successful in a lot of areas,” Smith said. “Irondale has had one that has been largely successful. It is just great for overall traffic flow and safety. We are currently looking … at Memory Triangle as a potential spot for one.”
What is a roundabout?
A roundabout is a circular intersection designed to help the flow of traffic. In a roundabout, drivers travel in a counterclockwise pattern around a center “island.”
Motorists must yield to traffic in the roundabout, then enter the roundabout, and exit the roundabout at the desired exit.
A roundabout has no traffic signals, helping travel flow at a steady pace.
Mountain Brook resident Collin Hansen appreciates the option to just keep moving instead of stopping at a traffic light.
Photo by David Leong.
The pair of roundabouts installed near the Birmingham Zoo and Botanical Gardens operate as a connected system. Traffic enters the first circle from multiple directions, merges into a counterclockwise flow, and exits onto a shared roadway leading into the second roundabout — a design that traffic engineers say eliminates the conflict points that made the old signal-controlled intersection a persistent source of congestion and confusion.
“I travel that area nearly every day,” Hansen said. “They were a long time coming, but I am really loving them. The previous streetlights were not only inhibiting traffic flow but also creating a dangerous situation for visitors to a couple of Birmingham’s favorite destinations, the zoo and botanical gardens. Drivers unfamiliar with the area often drove through red lights because they could not understand the set up. Even before crossing on green, drivers needed to be careful.”
“Sometimes you have that one car that sits and waits for a bit longer than they should, but that could just be southern politeness,” Hansen said. “I think overall, most people have understood how to navigate them, and it has cut down on the
Jim Williams, who also lives in Mountain Brook, said he thought he was going to hate them, but he loves the roundabouts.
“Initially, I wasn’t all that thrilled about them,” Williams said. “I didn’t like the idea because I thought it would create more congestion. I hate traffic lights and traffic, but with the roundabout there is always constant movement.”
Williams said there is a portion of the roundabout where there are two lanes going in the same direction, which he thinks is dangerous because the area doesn’t seem large enough to have two lanes.
“You have one place where you have two lanes going in the same direction and I think that is a tricky area to navigate with them,” Williams said. “Overall though I have found that the concept of traffic continuing to move is really efficient. I really appreciate the roundabouts.”
Megan Thomas with the Mountain Brook Police Department said most of the area surrounding the roundabouts is not in Mountain Brook’s jurisdiction, but sits in the city of Birmingham.
“We have a lot of cooperation between jurisdictions,” Thomas said. “From my experience of what I have observed, I think motorists have caught on to the concept really quickly. I have not been aware of any major accidents happening in that area because of the roundabouts.”
Thomas said springtime is always a very busy time of year for that particular area and the true test of whether the roundabouts cut down on traffic volume would become apparent with various activities happening.
“You tend to have a lot of traffic during the spring months with school field trips headed to the zoo or various activities happening at botanical gardens,” Thomas said. “I think the real test of efficiency will come when you have those high volume numbers of cars traveling in the area.”
Thomas said there is adequate signage at the roundabouts to indicate to motorists when they must yield to traffic within the roundabout.
“I think one of the biggest things is people don’t necessarily use their indicator to show when they are exiting the roundabout,” Thomas said. “I think if more people remembered to use their indicator then it could help with the flow of things.”
Community feedback
Lisa MacLean said she drives through the area every day on her way to the YMCA and enjoys the roundabouts.
“Being that I have been rear ended years ago at that intersection, when the woman claimed she was looking ahead to a green light but her immediate light was red, that intersection was very confusing,” MacLean said. “I am sure there were plenty of accidents reported over the years. The roundabout is fantastic. I praise everyone that brilliantly designed it.”
Kate Newbill said she was a traffic engineer for several decades and hates them. She said she will avoid them in any way possible.
Norman Jetmundsen said the new ones were great, and he wondered how more can be installed at other difficult intersections.
Ralph Daily said it was much quicker to go through the intersection with the roundabout.
“With the sunlight on the traffic signal nearest the zoo, I frequently couldn’t tell if it was green or not, which was a serious problem,” Daily said.
The City of Mountain Brook created a reel for its Instagram in early February with Mountain Brook Councilman Gerald Garner explaining details about the roundabouts.
“This intersection used to be full of red lights causing long back ups and a lot of road rage,” Garner said. “But instead of having more of the same, we wanted to do something smarter: roundabouts.”
Garner encourages motorists to not panic or worry and when coming to the roundabout, yield with the traffic and keep going.
“It is no longer a hurry up and wait game, it is just a let’s go game,” Garner said. “And guess what? It is working! Mountain Brook Village has never been easier to get into and out of.”
