Metro Roundup: Residents speak out against proposed U.S. 280 widening

The current Alabama Department of Transportation proposal to widen U.S. 280 to four lanes in both directions between Pump House Road and Lakeshore Drive was met with concern by area residents at a July 13 public meeting at Mountain Brook City Hall.

The plan is to eventually widen the highway from Lakeshore Drive all the way to Interstate 459 in order to alleviate traffic congestion, but the first phase stops just short of the Pump House Bridge, which will eventually have to be replaced in order to make room for the widening, said DeJarvis Leonard, the East Central Region engineer for ALDOT.

Public response was overwhelmingly negative at the meeting, with most of the concern coming from Mountain Brook residents who would be affected by the removal of the merge lane onto U.S. 280 coming off Overton Road. Leonard said an additional 40 seconds of green light time will be added to the existing traffic signal to compensate for the lost turn lane. Residents expressed doubt that the plan would work and said it would back traffic up on Overton, which would then affect residential neighborhoods in the area.

One resident said it would be “impossible” to get down Overton Road onto the highway. “You can’t get onto Overton,” she said.

Most of the meeting’s attendees live in the Lockerbie subdivision, which does not directly meet with Overton, but is near the road and interacts with the road’s traffic. Residents of the subdivision expressed concern about cars flying down Overton to try and get on the highway, which can be dangerous, especially with poor visibility of oncoming traffic. If traffic is backed up any more than it already is on Overton, those residents said they’re concerned about getting out of their neighborhood.

Mountain Brook City Manager Sam Gaston said the intersection does not warrant a traffic signal, but the city may post signage reminding drivers on Overton Road to not block the intersection, allowing Lockerbie residents to access the road.

Leonard told the audience that he anticipates they may have to wait, at most, an additional five minutes to access U.S. 280 from Overton once time is added to the traffic signal. He also said he has spoken with Vestavia Hills officials, who will encourage  residents in Liberty Park to use I-459 to get to downtown Birmingham as opposed to coming through Overton Road onto U.S. 280.

Richard Caudle, a traffic engineer with Skipper Consulting, said there are also plans to add a right-turn lane from U.S. 280 onto Rocky Ridge Road, and to relocate the U-turn lane from eastbound traffic onto westbound traffic, currently at Overton Road, down to the intersection with Rocky Ridge Road.

There are also plans to add a right-turn lane onto Overton Road from U.S. 280 westbound, Caudle said.

One resident accused ALDOT of ignoring the people who live and drive on Overton, while others expressed concern about the impact to neighborhoods near Rocky Ridge and Green Valley roads, as well.

One resident said the project represents a temporary fix that she does not believe will work.

“You’re putting a Band-Aid on the situation,” she said.

It was not known if another public meeting would be held. The project was scheduled to be let out for bid at the end of July.