Homeowners meet for discussion of East Street traffic issues

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The issue discussed at the New Merkel House Wednesday evening is not new, but meeting organizers hope that fresh eyes and perspectives could breathe new life into the discussion of traffic on East Street and its surrounding neighbors in Cahaba Heights.

East Street is shared by both Vestavia Hills and Mountain Brook, and while a primarily residential street, serves as the only way to access Mountain Brook's Rathmell Sports Park.

The park is home to the operations of the Birmingham United Soccer Association (BUSA), which has practices on weeknights and frequent tournaments.

Traffic resulting from pickup and drop off of BUSA players has been a highly-public issue for the last few years, but on Wednesday, residents of East Street and the residential side roads that surround it met to try to brainstorm new ways of alleviating the issue.

Resident Kathy Cotton, who led and helped organize the gathering, said she wanted attendees to try to put previous discussions and arguments to the side, and try to look at the issue anew.

“I know a lot of people who have been around understand the background,” she said to the group gathered. “We don’t have to throw it away … but let’s put our history in the corner for now.”

Cotton asked residents to name their major concerns, and safety, speeding and volume of traffic were listed as the top three, though multiple residents pointed out they thought speeding and volume were the main cause of the safety concern.

Several elected officials were in attendance, including Mayor Pro-Tem Rusty Weaver, City Councilors Kimberly Cook, Paul Head and George Pierce and even State Sen. Jabo Waggoner, as well as city staff members such as City Manager Jeff Downes and City Engineer Christopher Brady.

East Street Resident Matt Gilmore said his biggest concern by far is the fact that in the six homes closest to the sports park, there are 10 children under the age of 7, and parents are afraid for their safety — even in their own driveways.

Gilmore said he sees the issue as a combination of the narrowness of the road, speeders and the number of cars funneling into a small area at the same time. He added that he didn't think there is a "silver bullet," but that something needs to be done.

“We just need to address how we’re going to eliminate all of the symptoms,” he said.

His suggestions included revisiting the possibility of sidewalks and increasing the police presence during BUSA practice times.

BUSA Facilities Director Jim Jeter was also at the meeting, and said he wanted to talk about a few things and hear ideas as well.

Jeter said that in the last four years, BUSA has seen a 35 percent increase in participation, bringing the group to capacity, but that after discussing the issue with residents, BUSA has been trying to change things.

He provided information that included how BUSA has attempted to reduce the number of games on weekends, as well as limiting field use to seven fields during tournaments, rather than all 10.

But the main issue, he said he recognized, is the volume of traffic from 4:30-8:30 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday evenings, when players are going to and from practice.

Pierce asked if with the growth, BUSA had considered looking for other spaces to try to relieve some of the pressure and thereby traffic volume.

“It is a problem we’re trying to deal with,” Jeter said.

Redirecting back to what residents thought might be solutions, Cotton relayed information from Vestavia Hills Police Chief Dan Rary about the number of calls to the area over the last three months.

From July 1 to Oct. 4, she said, there were 14 traffic stops and nine citations, as well as eight patrol requests from residents.

Cotton said that while it may be laborious at times, residents may just need to continue to call to request officers.

“I think we’re going to have to do it,” she said.

Gilmore asked if the city officials present could respond to what had been said, and Downes relayed what he had gathered at both Wednesday's meeting in Cahaba Heights, in addition to other meetings with residents with similar issues.

Downes said he heard calls for increase police presence, sidewalks and "traffic calming" measures such as speed bumps or other devices, as well as getting a better idea of the actual volume with a traffic counter.

While he didn't have immediate answers for those gathered, Downes said he wanted them to know their concerns and requests were not falling on deaf ears.

“We want to solve the problem," he said. "We want to try.”

The group resolved at the end of the meeting to meet again in November, and to hopefully include representatives from the city of Mountain Brook as well as hear a report from a traffic study.