New traffic signal in works for Trace Crossings

The city of Hoover is planning to install a new traffic signal on Stadium Trace Parkway at Flemming Parkway, but it may take eight to nine months to get it in place, a city official said.

Flemming Parkway is the road that leads to Bumpus Middle School, and school officials have been asking for a traffic light there to help improve the flow of school traffic, said Tim Westhoven, the city’s chief operations officer.

The traffic signal already was warranted because of school traffic, but city officials were waiting until traffic counts got a little higher as more homes are built in the Lake Wilborn and Blackridge communities, Westhoven said.

That intersection is one of two entrances to the new Abingdon sector of the Lake Wilborn subdivision, and people also are moving into new homes in the Green Trails sector of Lake Wilborn, which is accessed off Flemming Parkway past Bumpus Middle School.

The city expects the traffic signal to cost $125,000 to $150,000, and Signature Homes, the developer for Lake Wilborn and Blackridge, contributed $100,000 for the signal, Westhoven said. The city will pick up the rest of the cost, he said.

It takes time to draw designs for the traffic signal, and there typically are significant delays once orders for the materials are placed, Westhoven said. It likely will be near the end of this school year before the traffic signal is installed and functional, he said.

This will be the fourth traffic light on Stadium Trace Parkway. Others are at John Hawkins Parkway, Emery Drive and Brock’s Gap Parkway.

Westhoven said there are no current plans for any further traffic lights on Stadium Trace Parkway, but city officials will continue to monitor traffic as the community develops.