West Homewood residents give feedback on future development

Residents of West Homewood were welcomed to the Homewood Senior Center on Oct. 11 to provide input on a master plan for the future of the community.

Organized by the Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham (RPCGB), the plan will look at development in the West Homewood neighborhood over the next 20 years. Its development, according to Project Manager Philip Amthor, will cost approximately $100,000 and is being funded with $80,000 in federal grant money and $20,000 in matching funds from the City of Homewood.

During the open forum in October, RPCGB solicited feedback from residents on a number of potential projects in the community. Diagrams indicating a new traffic plan for West Oxmoor Road on the west side of Interstate 65 received the most attention, as the plan proposed closing roads and removing signals to allow for better flow through the area.

“Cobb Street is a speedway,” said resident Mona Reynolds. “We like (the plan) very much because it makes it where the speedway won’t exist any longer.”

Other residents were hesitant to give approval, as the plan for traffic may reduce access to some businesses in the area and limits access to Oxmoor’s westbound lanes from businesses on the south side of the road.

According to RPCGB, other issues raised by residents of West Homewood are security concerns and the desire for more retail businesses and restaurants in the neighborhood.

Based on the results of the public forum, Amthor said RPCGB will collect the data and develop a master plan for the area that may be available for implementation by spring 2013.