Residents concerned about noise in Oxmoor project

The City of Homewood showed the public its plans for Oxmoor Boulevard on June 26, but it faced a strong negative reaction from several residents.

The public involvement meeting provided a chance for residents to ask questions and voice concerns about road improvements planned for Oxmoor Boulevard from Green Springs Highway to Barber Court.

The project will add new east and westbound lanes on Oxmoor Boulevard and remove the Alabama Power transmission tower on that street. It will also make changes to the I-65 ramps and add left turn lanes at Scott Street, two places on Vulcan Road, both sides of the Columbiana Road/Palisades Boulevard intersection and on Oxmoor Boulevard at the Green Springs/Oxmoor Road/Palisades intersection. Additionally, the city will remove two traffic signals on the east end of Oxmoor Road and at Cobb Street while also eliminating left turns from Cobb Street to Oxmoor Boulevard.

The project would also add sidewalks to West Oxmoor Road.

“Homewood is taking a really proactive role with sidewalks, and we’re trying to keep our reputation as being the best walkable city,” Ward 2 Representative Fred Hawkins said. “So we’re going to put sidewalks on everything we do.”

Many residents at the meeting were concerned that the expanded streets would encourage more traffic, especially large trucks. Neighborhoods near Oxmoor Boulevard already experience significant road noise, and homeowners were concerned that noise levels would only increase with the city’s plan.

“We don’t like it. Ninety percent of it we don’t like,” said Fred Azbik, who lives on Hambaugh Avenue. “Increasing the lanes of traffic over there, in my mind, the noise will go up.”

Azbik’s father, Joe, also strongly disapproves and said he has heard from fellow residents who feel the same. In addition to noise, the Azbiks fear a decline in property value. Joe said one of his neighbors on Edgeknoll Lane had to sell his home far under market value because of the noise from Oxmoor Boulevard.

The city, however, has performed a traffic and noise analysis and believes the project will relieve traffic congestion, noise and air pollution. Hawkins said that the removal of traffic signals and added lanes will allow traffic to flow more quickly through residential areas, which would alleviate locals’ concerns.

“It should add less noise because the traffic can actually move instead of stopping because when traffic stops, that’s when you get the noise and the air pollution,” Hawkins said. “Most of the traffic will just keep on moving and you won’t have to stop.”

The city’s new ordinance prohibiting “jake braking,” passed at the June 23 council meeting, could also reduce the noise created by large trucks. Jake braking is a way of slowing large diesel trucks with a compression release engine brake, which often produces excessive noise. Violating this ordinance will result in a $500 fine or up to six months in jail.

City Senior Planner Vanessa McGrath said the improvements will also simplify driving on Oxmoor Boulevard by reducing the number of lane shifts currently required to travel the street.

Based on the feedback from the public involvement meeting, the city may choose to revise its plans before proceeding to construction. The roadway improvement designs are still being finalized by Gonzalez, Strength and Associates and are estimated to cost around $6 million. That expense will be split 80 percent-20 percent between the Alabama Department of Transportation and the City of Homewood. Construction could begin in early 2015, but the city has not yet decided on a definite timeline.

Homewood residents can submit their comments on the project until Friday, July 11. Comments can be sent to ALDOT Division 3 Engineer Brian Davis at P.O. Box 2745, Birmingham, AL 35202. Comments should be marked ATTN: Mrs. Sandra F.P. Bonner.