Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
Billy Pritchard chaired Monday’s meeting of the Mountain Brook City Council.
Residents of Halbrook Lane learned at Monday’s Mountain Brook City Council meeting that the city’s next effort in reducing cut-through traffic will be delayed.
During the public comment portion of the meeting, Katheryn Humber asked about the timeline of speed humps and chicanes being installed.
“Unfortunately, we got news today that speed humps will not be installed until [July 22nd or 23rd],” City Manager Sam Gaston said. “Public Works was meeting with the contractor and there needs to be some more grinding in some areas where there is new asphalt and it will not adhere to the existing [surface].”
The installation of chicanes will also be delayed as contractors look to handle speed humps and chicanes at the same time.
Humber said she has seen a new electronic traffic counter on Halbrook Lane and wondered who installed it.
Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
Lloyd Shelton lives in the vicinity of of Halbrook Lane.
“Based on the emails, it wasn’t us,” Lloyd Shelton said. “And we checked with Richard Caudle, our traffic engineer, and it wasn’t him. That’s not ALDOT territory so we don’t think it’s ALDOT. I’m not sure. It wasn’t us and it wasn’t Richard.”
Humber said the Independence Day weekend would not have provided a true picture of traffic on that street.
Billy Pritchard, who chaired the meeting in the absence of Council President Virginia Smith, said the speed humps and chicanes are part of a sequential process that will hopefully yield a reduction of cut-through traffic on Halbrook.
“We’re in the process of taking these steps and these measures and are trying to evaluate them. Richard Caudle is our expert in traffic engineering. If he’s doing things, you’ll find out them and know about them from Sam. If [Caudle is] not doing it, we have no idea.
"What we’ve decided to do is take these measures and try to evaluate them before coming to a final decision, making [a move] that’s going to be more permanent,” he said.
Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
Dr. Michael Koslin said the Mountain Brook Council isn’t doing enough to disseminate information.
Dr. Michael Koslin followed Humber at the podium, saying that he didn’t think the council had sufficiently notified citizens of the measures it plans to take. He said that a citywide text platform, small articles in Village Life magazine or entries on the council agenda fall short of providing appropriate notification.
“I don’t read the council agenda any more than you read surgical journals before you’re going to have an operation,” he said. “Maybe that’s my fault but based on the hundreds of people that make comments didn’t see it either.”
Koslin said he would like there to be virtually no truck traffic in the targeted area. He added that he thinks it's unfair for motorists to be given warning tickets for driving on Halbrook.
“I think that’s wrong,” he said. “Especially since you’re still considering permanent solutions, I think that should be suspended.”
Shelton said the council has been talking about the issue of cut-through traffic since the summer of 2022 and several notifications have been sent.
“I get that there are some people who haven't read or paid attention,” he said. “But to question our intent or our heart as to how we’ve handled this issue, I don’t know if that’s fair either.”
Pritchard added that “there are opportunities to see notifications all over the place.”
After the meeting, Humber said she and others on Halbrook want the street returned to its original design.
“Those streets were all horseshoe streets,” she said. “Buckingham Lane was a horseshoe street. Arundel, Cromwell and Halbrook were horseshoe-shaped streets. There was no through access.”
The next regular meeting of the city council will be at 7 p.m. on Monday, July 22.
