Final day to take our survey on 280 improvements

With the Alabama Department of Transportation’s Intersection Improvement Plan for U.S. 280 wrapping up, we want to know what you think about the changes. Have intersections been improved, or is the corridor still a long way from reaching its full potential? 

Below are a few residents who recently weighed in on the changes. Click here to take our online survey or use the link on the homepage of 280living.com, and share your thoughts with fellow drivers.

I now avoid 280 at all costs. I once lived off 280 and had planned to move back but have changed my mind.

— Allison Lee Jay

I like the flow, but I have to use the U-turn to get to Valleydale and it just doesn’t seem synchronized. We sit there while there is no traffic coming and get the green when there is. Something’s not right.

— Denise Laing O’Rourke

Can I just say that I abhor 280? I think they need to use the money they want to spend for the northern beltline and use it for 280 instead. Just sayin’.

— Ruth Laesch Johnson

Great for people that are going all the way downtown or those who do not need to get on and off 280. Bad for locals that live in the Inverness area and for businesses.

— Jennifer Henry Cooke

Love it! But I am used to the “Michigan U-turns” implemented. So much more efficient! Great job!

— Kate Hogan Blair

Does ALDOT believe they are finished or just finished for now? At a minimum, ALDOT needs to reassess the areas that need adjustments for safety purposes. On average, I see a car every two weeks trying to make a left turn at an intersection that no longer allows left turns. The lights still look the same, and the no turn signage is too small and difficult to see at night. Furthermore, it is still unusual for drivers going west to slow down when approaching the U-turn intersection at Party City. They need strobe lights or better signage. Their job is not finished. Hopefully, adjustments will be made on an ongoing basis.

— David Neaves

We may sit a little longer on the side roads, but once on 280 there is definitely a better flow.

— Darleen Hyatt

I was almost involved in a very serious crash last week when someone tried to dart across 280 at one of the U-turn lanes near Valleydale. I’m still not sure how I did not hit them, since I was going 50 and they tried to drive straight across all three lanes on eastbound 280 from a U-turn lane. It’s going to kill people. 

— Christy Salter

I travel 280 every day for work, and I think the changes are very good. However, ALDOT needs to rethink Valleydale as it is a major street and should be a U-turn street.

— Sara Marquart

Don’t get me started. I live in Meadowbrook and work on Valleydale. How many wrecks and severe injuries will there have to be before people realize that the only reasonable way to be able to effectively handle the ever-increasing volume of traffic is to have additional travel lanes? However with the amount of development already fronting Highway. 280, there is nowhere to put additional ground level lanes, so the only place left to go is up. Unpopular as that is, three additional limited-access through lanes in each direction (albeit elevated) would solve a myriad of problems for many years to come.

— Rachel Garrett

I think the improvements are great — except for the Valleydale boondoggle!

— Susan Reniff Gannett

Just new and different problems!

— Debbi Patton Wood

I think the Valleydale intersection was a mistake. People now cut across at Pier One to avoid the U-turn light. There have been a lot of bad wrecks there before the intersection was changed.

— Glenda Jordan Shewmake

The Valleydale U-turn is a real pain and seems senseless. The rest is good.

— Ansley Snow Beadle

I live in Inverness. Why Band-Aid and create an eyesore at that? The elevated highway is/was the only true solution. ALDOT = idiots!

— Sheri Speer Parker