... I guess not. This is on the Breaking News section of Al.com:
Quote:Meetings on elevated 280 this afternoon
Meetings to discuss the proposed elevated lanes on U.S. 280 continue today at 2 and 6 p.m. for the western highway segment from Interstate 459 to the Elton B. Stephens Expressway.
The meetings are at the Cahaba Grand Conference Center on HealthSouth Parkway.
A group of Homewood and Mtn. Brook residents said they would do whatever it took to prevent it, but it never officially died.
I think Shelby County is finally to the point that they have a strong hand in what gets done now in the region, and something obviously has to be done about 280. First on the table, I think, should be REAL mass transit that people would use. Until the mass transit crosses the cahaba river, it won't reach it's full potential.
I think they're considering starting the elevated roadway farther SE so that the Brookies and Homewooders don't get a say... besides, the worst of it is south of 459.
The elevated road remains on the table because there has been NO really effective alternative put foreward. To widen 280 for its entire length from Red Mountain to Chelsea to 8 or 10 lanes, has not been considered as feasible as the elevated four lane road being suggested. The physical building obstacles can be overcome, but the emotional obstacles have to be dealt with.
It has been suggested an additional road be constructed to serve the area, but land is now so precious and expensive in that area, that it may not be economically feasible to build an additional route.
So what is their major problem with an elevated road?
BlazerPhil Wrote:So what is their major problem with an elevated road?
Not snooty enough would be my guess. Now, if it were made out of Italian Marble and modeled after Roman aqueducts, then they'll talk.
BlazerPhil Wrote:So what is their major problem with an elevated road?
Short answer: It'll be ugly, and we pay too much for our homes to have to look at it, Shelby County be damned.
when it takes 3 hours to get from homewood to downtown birmingham, no one is going to pay $2 mil for a house. Traffic has to be taken into consideration when you think about home prices. Get over it!
Smaug Wrote:BlazerPhil Wrote:So what is their major problem with an elevated road?
Short answer: It'll be ugly, and we pay too much for our homes to have to look at it, Shelby County be damned.
I disagree that it will be ugly, too. The design is very streamlined and appealing I think.
I am currently working in Arlington Va. Many major roads and highways are disguised or hidden by walls and landscaping. Problem is someone has to pay for the walls and landscaping and it doesn't sound like anyone wants to pay for it.
BlazerPhil Wrote:I am currently working in Arlington Va. Many major roads and highways are disguised or hidden by walls and landscaping. Problem is someone has to pay for the walls and landscaping and it doesn't sound like anyone wants to pay for it.
The person who designed it would be doing all that. She's won many awards for her structures.
Most of the one's against it I heard are afraid it will be loud (not true because of the design structure) or are afraid of it driving out business (because everyone on 280 wants to go to YOUR store). I quit going down there because I can't stand the traffic. I may actually go to some of the stores if they do something about it.
Please understand that the above comment does not represent my own feeling, but rather the scuttlebutt I'm hearing among the plan's detractors.
Heck, I don't even live south of town.