Red Mountain Expressway (Birmingham, Homewood, Mountain Brook: apartments, university, closing)

[Justin Scott]

Are there any plans to update it, etc.? That stretch of road is an absolute eyesore.....and seems to be flawed significantly. Heck, tear it down and rebuild it with a tunnel that includes Light Rail.

[steveklein]

How is it significantly flawed?

And no, there are no plans to make significant changes to it

[harry chickpea]

I've always liked it. The scale of the cut fits nicely with the size relationship between B'ham and Homewood/Vestavia.

[Tourian]

The Red Mountain Cut has a lot of character and history and significance for the city. I like it the way it is. Until we start living like the Jetsons, there's no reason or plans to make any changes.

http://www.bhamwiki.com/w/Red_Mountain_cut

The removal of 2 million cubic yards of the ridge of Red Mountain exposed over 190 million years of geologic strata dating to over 500 million years ago. The Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian and Mississippian geologic periods are visible in the cut. Special features include caves, volcanic ash layers, the Red Mountain fault line, prehistoric reefs and beaches, fossils and fossil tracks. Significantly, the cut reveals the cross-section of the red ore seam that spurred Birmingham's development and a layer containing fossils of a unique Silurian trilobite species.

[sleepless in Bham]

It's a six lane expressway that is 20 yrs overdue for a rebuild to meet current and future traffic needs.

[sleepless in Bham]

Originally Posted by steveklein

How is it significantly flawed?

The 3rd-4th Ave South on/off ramps were not designed to handle current traffic volume and may need to be closed. The same could be said for the 21st Ave as well.

Redesign the University Blvd exit

Expand from six to eight lanes.

[steveklein]

Originally Posted by sleepless in Bham

The 3rd-4th Ave South on/off ramps were not designed to handle current traffic volume and may need to be closed. The same could be said for the 21st Ave as well.

Redesign the University Blvd exit

Expand from six to eight lanes.

What's wrong with the University Blvd exit? If it were to be redesigned I guess it could take place during the redevlopment of Southtown because that is the southwest quadrant of that exit.

Does the 21st Ave exit really get that much traffic? The area it serves is fairly low density and mostly residential.

Expanding from 6 to 8 lanes would be extremely... and I mean EXTREMELY expensive.

[sleepless in Bham]

Originally Posted by steveklein

What's wrong with the University Blvd exit? If it were to be redesigned I guess it could take place during the redevlopment of Southtown because that is the southwest quadrant of that exit.

Does the 21st Ave exit really get that much traffic? The area it serves is fairly low density and mostly residential.

Expanding from 6 to 8 lanes would be extremely... and I mean EXTREMELY expensive.

Currently the University Blvd exit is a tight folded cloverleaf design with no emergency shoulder. There needs to be at least a new on ramp for SB traffic for starters.

There isn't enough traffic to justify an exit at 21st Ave so it should be closed.

Toll the expressway to pay for improvements and expansion.

The original reason for the RME is to make it easier to get from downtown to the over the mountain suburbs. Since it completion in 1970 there have been no major changes to it to keep with the higher traffic volume.

[steveklein]

I completely disagree with closing the 21st Ave exit. Though it isn't that busy of an exit, it has already been built so closing it really wouldn't save much money. It serves Vulcan and areas along Valley Avenue. It also provides access to English Village, as well as Mountain Brook Village, Lane Park, the Zoo, and Botanical Gardens without having to continue on US-280 East.

The 3rd/4th Ave South exit is a bit dangerous if you aren't ready for it, but closing it would only bottleneck the 1st Ave N and University Blvd exits more. The 3rd/4th Ave exit is the exit you would probably want to take if you were going to Railroad Park, Regions Field, Avondale, or any of the numerous new apartments in the "Midtown" area.

[sleepless in Bham]

Originally Posted by steveklein

I completely disagree with closing the 21st Ave exit. Though it isn't that busy of an exit, it has already been built so closing it really wouldn't save much money. It serves Vulcan and areas along Valley Avenue. It also provides access to English Village, as well as Mountain Brook Village, Lane Park, the Zoo, and Botanical Gardens without having to continue on US-280 East.

The 3rd/4th Ave South exit is a bit dangerous if you aren't ready for it, but closing it would only bottleneck the 1st Ave N and University Blvd exits more. The 3rd/4th Ave exit is the exit you would probably want to take if you were going to Railroad Park, Regions Field, Avondale, or any of the numerous new apartments in the "Midtown" area.

There is a exit for the zoo, botanical gardens and Mountain Brook village on 280 after the split with 31. Also there is the Rosedale Dr exit that could be used for those heading to Vulcan, Valley Ave etc.

The 1st Ave SB exit ramp has been closed for years. The NB exit ramp is still open.

Closing the 3rd-4th Ave exit I think would make it possible to extend the on/off ramps at University to handle the extra traffic that would normally use 3rd-4th.