1 of 3
Photo by Erin Nelson.
Traffic moves past the Botanical Gardens on Lane Park Road in Mountain Brook. The cities of Mountain Brook and Birmingham, along with Jefferson County, partnered to repave the road that runs next to the Birmingham Botanical Gardens.
2 of 3
Photos by Erin Nelson.
Traffic moves past Canterbury Gardens on Lane Park Road in Mountain Brook.
3 of 3
Above right:From left, Mountain Brook Public Works Director Ronnie Vaughn, Councilwoman Graham Smith, Council President Virginia Smith, Mayor Stewart Welch, Dunn Construction driver Carla Dewberry, Birmingham City Council District 3 representative Valerie Abbott and Birmingham Department of Transportation Director James Fowler stand outside of the Birmingham Botanical Gardens. The cities of Mountain Brook and Birmingham and Jefferson County partnered in the repaving of Lane Park Road, which runs adjacent to the Birmingham Botanical Gardens and the city of Mountain Brook.
From left, Mountain Brook Public Works Director Ronnie Vaughn, Councilwoman Graham Smith, Council President Virginia Smith, Mayor Stewart Welch, Dunn Construction driver Carla Dewberry, Birmingham City Council District 3 representative Valerie Abbott and Birmingham Department of Transportation Director James Fowler stand outside of the Birmingham Botanical Gardens. The cities of Mountain Brook and Birmingham and Jefferson County partnered in the repaving of Lane Park Road, which runs adjacent to the Birmingham Botanical Gardens and the city of Mountain Brook.
Lane Park Road is a much smoother drive for Mountain Brook residents these days, thanks to a cooperative effort between their city and the city of Birmingham.
The road — which stretches in front of the Birmingham Botanical Gardens from Country Club Road to Mountain Brook Village — belongs in part to both cities, which has made a cohesive paving project difficult to plan in the past.
Stewart Welch, mayor of Mountain Brook, said the project’s recent success was born out of an idea that Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin brought to the mayors of the 35 municipalities in Jefferson County in 2017.
“Mayor Woodfin came before the Jefferson County Mayors Association and said we need to double down on regional cooperation, and he launched the idea of the Good Neighbor Pledge,” Welch said.
Before the Good Neighbor Pledge, relationships were cordial, but now mayors actively work together to find ways to partner.
The Lane Park Road paving project is a great example of that, Welch said. He and Woodfin talked about coordinating their timelines so that Birmingham’s portion of the road — the stretch directly in front of the gardens — and Mountain Brook’s portion — the two ends of the road — could all be paved together so it wouldn’t look and feel disjointed for drivers.
Then, Ronnie Vaughn, public works director for the City of Mountain Brook, and James Fowler, director of transportation for the City of Birmingham, hammered out the details in partnership with local company Dunn Construction.
“It’s very easy now to have a conversation from Birmingham to Mountain Brook, Mountain Brook to Birmingham, about, ‘Here’s a project that we can work together on,’” Welch said. “Birmingham has been awesome. It really started with the Good Neighbor Pledge, and I give Mayor Woodfin the credit.”
Welch said he’s also appreciative of the way city councils are now working together as a result of the pledge. They’ve formed their own association, the JeffCo Councilors Coalition, and Welch said there’s a “spirit of cooperation” among everyone.
Virginia Carruthers Smith, president of Mountain Brook City Council, said that the Lane Park Road project benefits both Mountain Brook and Birmingham residents.
“It’s important because it’s a gateway to Birmingham’s free botanical gardens, and of course it’s next to our new development, Lane Parke, so we’re all super happy about this combination,” she said.
Welch agreed, noting that the gardens and the zoo are two of Birmingham’s premier features, and Mountain Brook has “kind of adopted them as our own.”
“We’re just proud to have some of Birmingham’s premier places close to us, because our residents are big supporters of both and big attenders,” he said.
Valerie Abbott, who has served on the Birmingham City Council since 2001, said in the past when cities didn’t work together as seamlessly, projects would often stall out and “disappear.”
It’s very easy now to have a conversation from Birmingham to Mountain Brook, Mountain Brook to Birmingham, about, ‘Here’s a project that we can work together on.’
Stewart Welch
Graham Smith, a Mountain Brook City Council member, said she believes area municipalities have realized that “we don’t grow independently, we’re growing as a unit now.”
“You can hear some of the different municipalities’ struggles and can say, ‘Oh, we’ve been through that problem, here’s one solution that worked for us,’ or, ‘Hey, you’re doing this, this is a great idea and we would like to piggyback on what you’re doing.’ So it’s really saved a great deal of time and probably money also,” Smith said.
Several other partnership projects between Mountain Brook, Birmingham and others are currently in the planning stages, including a few sidewalk and roundabout projects and a pedestrian bridge to cross U.S. 280 at Hollywood Boulevard.
