In response to the May 6 Birmingham News article "State seeks advice on 280 toll plan," I want to clarify the recent action of the Vestavia Hills City Council relative to the traffic congestion on U.S. 280.
Unlike Chelsea and Westover, the Vestavia Hills City Council did not endorse the current Alabama Department of Transportation plan for an elevated and 10-laned U.S. 280, due to the $800 million project cost, the lack of any viable financial projections on how to service such debt, the lack of any public transit component to a solution, the negative impact on businesses and communities along the corridor, and the lack of adequate environmental studies.
The City Council did encourage ALDOT to immediately complete and implement design work for improvements to the U.S. 280/Interstate 459 interchange. This will materially relieve a major traffic bottleneck.
For the segments of U.S. 280 east and west of the interchange, we called for collaboration among ALDOT, the Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham, city governments and businesses along the corridor to develop alternate plans that are responsive to the concerns noted above and represent a coalition of interest parties.
I believe ALDOT and the governor will find consensus among the majority of Jefferson County's U.S. 280 cities for this position.
Mary Lee Rice
President
Vestavia Hills City Council
