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Hoover council budgets money for potential traffic calming devices in Greystone

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Photo by Jon Anderson

The Hoover City Council on Monday night voted 5-2 to budget up to $50,000 to cover the potential installation of traffic calming devices on two streets in the Greystone community.

Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato said the city for many years has received complaints about people speeding on Berwick Road in the Greystone Ridge garden home community and using it as a cut-through between Hugh Daniel Drive and Greystone Way.

He recommended the council budget money to potentially install traffic calming devices on Berwick Road and Berwick Drive to slow the traffic down and discourage people from using the roads as a cut-through.

Following the vote by the council Monday night, the city in January will conduct a traffic study to measure the number and speed of vehicles on those streets, said Tim Westhoven, the city’s chief operations officer.

City officials also will consider the slope and curviness of the roads, whether they have many vehicles parked on them, and whether they are main routes for emergency vehicles, Westhoven said.

After the study is completed, if the traffic criteria is met, the city will send a survey to residents who likely would be impacted by the addition of traffic calming devices, including residents on surrounding streets that may see an increase in traffic as people seek alternate routes, Westhoven said.

At least 66 percent of the people surveyed must indicate they favor installation of the devices for installation to move forward, and surveys not returned are considered a vote against the devices, he said.

Tommy Burroughs, who has lived on Berwick Road for about 20 years, said he would love to see something installed to slow people down and deter pass-through traffic.

A lot of people use the road to avoid the intersection of U.S. 280 and Alabama 119, Burroughs said.

“It’s like a constant stream,” especially between 7:30 and 8:20 a.m. and 5 to 6 p.m., he said. “My neighbor had his car hit, and you take your life in your hands when you go get your mail.”

At one point, the city put up signs that alert drivers to their speed on the 25-mph road, but the problem has continued, Burroughs said. Numerous residents put up signs in their yards, asking drivers to slow down, but the neighborhood association doesn’t like the signs either, he said.

Councilmen Casey Middlebrooks and Curt Posey voted against funding traffic calming devices.

Middlebrooks said it’s his understanding that the city has tended to avoid installing speed humps or speed tables because they were deemed ineffective and slow down emergency vehicles.

Westhoven said the effectiveness of traffic calming devices depends on the circumstances of each individual location. They have been used effectively in the Chace Lake community for more than a year, he said. Traffic volume did not decrease, but speeds did, he said.

Posey said he has always hated speed bumps and never considered the ones that were on Sulphur Springs Road to be effective. He prefers for the city to use the signs that alert drivers to their speeds and have police officers present to catch speeders. “We’ve got to go out there and enforce the law,” he said.

Brocato said he does believe they are effective. “Tuscaloosa puts them just about everywhere,” he said.

The ones that would be installed in Hoover are not the old, traditional asphalt speed humps, he said. These have humps that are not as pronounced and are easier on emergency vehicles, he said.

Westhoven said Hoover prefers speed tables that have a ramp up, a 6-foot-long flat surface on top and a ramp back down.

Brocato said he thinks the Greystone Ridge neighborhood is anxious for the city to address its problem.

The speed tables cost $6,000 to $9,000 each, but Westhoven said he is not sure how many might be installed in Greystone Ridge if they are deemed merited.

In other business Monday night, the City Council:

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