Vestavia officials express concerns about possible Mountain Brook road closure

The Vestavia Hills City Council on Monday night discussed a possible road closure being considered by Mountain Brook that could have a direct impact on Vestavia Hills roads in Cahaba Heights. 

Vestavia Hills City Manager Jeff Downes informed the council that Mountain Brook’s City Council is holding a public hearing Thursday, Feb. 29, regarding potential road closures or speed humps for Halbrook Lane and Arundel Drive in Mountain Brook between Green Valley Road and Overton Road.

Some Mountain Brook residents have been complaining about cut-through traffic, so Mountain Brook is requesting comments from the city of Vestavia Hills prior to that hearing, Downes said.

Downes met with Mountain Brook City Manager Sam Gaston on Monday morning, and Gaston shared data collected by traffic engineering firm Skipper Consulting that showed traffic on the roads in question was within acceptable parameters, although traffic was on the high end of that range for Halbrook Lane.

However, during a Mountain Brook work session on Feb. 12, Mountain Brook police Chief  Jaye Loggins said traffic from Cahaba Heights has increased and is causing problems regularly in the area. 

“My issue is Vestavia is growing around [that] area, causing more traffic and causing more volume,” Loggins said. “That’s a mess. It’s a standstill at certain times of the day.”

Downes, in response to Mountain Brook’s concerns, shared additional data his staff assembled earlier in the afternoon showing that traffic on Halbrook has actually reduced over the previous five years. For instance, Skipper Consulting’s data shows Halbrook averaged 2,460 cars per day in 2022, but Downes’ staff said that number was down from 4,829 cars per day in 2019.

He also mentioned that traffic temporarily increased on Arundel and Halbrook due to detours during a period of construction on Crosshaven Drive. However, Downes said the project on Crosshaven Drive is complete, and no additional detours are anticipated.

Regardless, Downes said he and his staff recently studied Mountain Brook’s options and found that the plan to close the streets to cut-through traffic could cause significant impacts on the community, including increasing the volume on surrounding streets and negatively affecting emergency response.

"A review of this site does indicate that the proposed street closures within Mountain Brook city limits are feasible from an engineering site perspective,” Downes said. “However, [Vestavia Hills fire Chief Marvin] Green tells me that they went out there today, and there is a major issue with the location of a fire hydrant, that if Mountain Brook were to close their street, our access to a fire hydrant would be impacted.”

“If they were to close the street, we would have to make sure our public safety issues are preserved and we don't get left without having proper water in case of a fire within Vestavia Hills,” Downes said.

Councilwoman Kimberly Cook said she was briefed about Mountain Brook’s contingent plans previously. However, the public safety issues are new information to her, and she is deeply concerned about the impact on Vestavia Hills residents in the area, she said.

"Personally, I would advise against it,” Cook said. “I think that it would hurt our citizens."

Downes said he would compile a list of Vestavia Hills’ concerns to provide Mountain Brook on Tuesday, Feb. 27. 

Also on Monday, the Vestavia Hills City Council approved a resolution awarding a contract to Coca-Cola Bottling Company United of Birmingham as the official concession vendor for all Vestavia Hills parks and recreation facilities. The contract is a three-year agreement and includes provisions for new scoreboards at all city athletic fields. 

Also, the City Council accepted two bids for the long-awaited pedestrian bridge over U.S. 31 and will vote on the winner at a later date. Two companies bid on the project, with Bulls Construction as the low bidder and Taylor + Miree the other. Downes said that, pending approval of the project to one of the bidders, construction should begin later this summer and is scheduled to be completed in 12 months. 

Lastly, the City Council approved a resolution authorizing the city of Birmingham to annex a strip of property in Liberty Park. The resolution essentially allows Vestavia Hills and Birmingham to swap equal 25-foot strips of land, allowing the Liberty Park Joint Venture to build an office building at 1051 Highfield Drive within The Bray at Liberty Park.

The next Vestavia Hills City Council meeting is scheduled for Monday, March 11, at 6 p.m.

Solomon Crenshaw Jr. contributed to this report.