Birmingham

East Maple to stay four lanes, for now, says commission

By Tiffany Esshaki
C & G Staff Writer

BIRMINGHAM — The Birmingham City Commission voted to leave East Maple Road in its current four-lane configuration, much to the delight of residents who packed the commission meeting room Feb. 13 to speak out on the matter.

The stretch of East Maple between Adams and Eton will be resurfaced this summer, but the issue at hand was whether the city would reconfigure the road from four lanes, two in either direction, to one lane in either direction with a center left-turn lane. The proposed design would also have incorporate bike lanes on both sides of the road. The idea was sparked by a study the city initiated in 2011 following the adoption of the Complete Streets program in 2010. Complete Streets is a transportation planning and engineering policy based on the idea that streets should be accessible to all legal users, from motorists and buses to bicyclists and pedestrians. Birmingham intends to initiate a citywide Complete Streets planning process later this year.

The project had been planned since before the Complete Streets program was adopted. The Citywide Complete Streets Master Plan could not be completed before reconstruction was scheduled to begin, so the city opted to study the stretch of East Maple before initiating the citywide review to avoid inadequately reconstructing the corridor, according to City Manager Robert Bruner.

According to data in the report, the three-lane road design would make streets more walkable, and could potentially streamline traffic heading through town, as approximately 50 percent of westbound cars on East Maple pass through Birmingham without stopping. But that same analysis also suggests that the design could cause congestion in the area unless at least 15 percent of drivers divert to other nearby roadways, such as 14 Mile or Quarton, which equates to 150 vehicles in each direction during peak morning and evening rush hours. Though it was advised that the three-lane design can accommodate the same capacity as a four-lane system, residents were skeptical.

“Everything you’ve talked about has been from professional studies, but you need to talk to practical experts. I think you’ve got a lot of them in this room,” said resident Diane Gasper, as she presented the commission with a petition against the measure signed by more than 50 members of the Rail District. “If you would’ve asked your businesses and residents how they feel, they wouldn’t have been for it.”

Some residents feared that traffic looking to avoid Maple Road might not divert to nearby main roads, and instead cut through side streets in their neighborhoods. Greg Appel told the commission he already notices drivers speeding past his home on Buckingham. He added that he didn’t see a point in putting in a bike lane that would only stretch a short distance.

“It’s the bike path to nowhere. When you get to Eton, there’s no path on the other side. Why build it for half a mile? It makes no sense,” said Appel.

For nearly three hours, residents shared their concerns about the road reconfiguration, citing reasons from increased congestion to possible problems emergency services might have if they need to take Maple to reach a resident in crisis. Not all the comments were in opposition of the measure, though. Resident Dorothy Conrad voiced her support for the project.

“Most things being said here tonight are based on ‘it could happen,’ not based on fact. The only change would be the striping. If it doesn’t work, the stripes are removed and we go back to four lanes,” said Conrad. “If there’s the possibility that you can make that road a more habitable environment, then we should give it a try. This is not permanent; it’s a test.”

During a brief presentation, Bruner explained that once a change to three lanes was made, analysis would be conducted to determine if the change was successful. If the commission determined that the change was problematic, the road would be restriped back to four lanes.

However, much of the commission couldn’t quite be convinced of the $40,000 reconfiguration. After confirming that traffic would be stopped one-way to accommodate school buses and garbage trucks in the lane, Commissioner Gordon Rinschler said the move seemed premature, and more data should be collected about traffic in the corridor.

“My notes on this say ‘ready, fire, aim.’ The way we went about this, we kind of got out of our headlights.”

Commissioner Rackeline Hoff agreed.

“I’m not as much of a skeptic of the plan as I am of how we got the plan,” she said. “I think Complete Streets is a good concept, I don’t think it’s good for Maple Road. I think we should try it, but not on Maple.”

With that, the commission voted 6-1 to approve proposition B of the resolution, which dictates the city will reconstruct East Maple, but keep the road in its current four-lane design. Commissioner Tom McDaniel voted against the measure because he felt that whether the redesign would be successful or not, there was only one way to find out.

“I think that it will work in that location, though I agree it has to be proven,” said McDaniel. “But I don’t know how we can prove it if we don’t try it out for a while. I think the opposition to it, while I respect it, is somewhat misguided. Maybe it will take you 3 1/2 minutes instead of three to get from Eton to Adams. But that was one of the reasons we needed to do this, was to measure transit times.”

According to Bruner, city staff will accelerate efforts to initiate a citywide Complete Streets Master Plan, also known as the Multimodal Master Plan. They will also prepare an evaluation plan for East Maple that will analyze the area as if the project were going to proceed with testing the three-lane design. The data will be kept on hand in case the project is ever considered again in the future — something Mayor Mark Nickita hopes is a possibility. He insisted that the current design of the road doesn’t work the way it is.

“We’re not ending this conversation today. We’re looking at it more carefully,” said Nickita. “It could use some improvements, and we’re not sure yet how that can be done.”

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Tiffany Esshaki at tesshaki@candgnews.com or at ( ) - .