New traffic signal, turn lanes planned at Shelby County 41, Hugh Daniel Drive

The Hoover City Council on Monday night agreed to participate in a project with Shelby County to add turn lanes and a traffic signal on Shelby County 41 at its intersection with Hugh Daniel Drive.

Traffic in that area has been growing as new subdivisions have come on line both in Hoover and unincorporated Shelby County, said Tim Westhoven, Hoover’s chief operations officer.

The idea of that intersection being upgraded has been on the city’s radar for two or three years, Westhoven said. People have been requesting a traffic signal, and Hoover officials have passed the request on to Shelby County because Shelby County 41 is the primary road there, he said.

Shelby County officials recently came back to Hoover and asked the city to analyze whether the intersection met national criteria to warrant a traffic signal. Hoover discovered that the intersection indeed met two of the indicators, Westhoven said.

The intersection now attracts almost 10,000 vehicles per day, he said.

The turn lanes and traffic signal are expected to cost about $600,000, with Shelby County paying $360,000 (60%) and Hoover paying $240,000 (40%), Westhoven said.

Kathy Domingue, a Leeds resident who works as a caregiver to a man who lives in the Greystone Farms community off Hugh Daniel Drive, said the traffic signal, and especially the turn lane, are much needed.

Her vehicle was struck from behind in September when she was waiting to turn left from Shelby County 41 onto Hugh Daniel Drive, she said. “It’s just gotten so busy,” she said.

Phil Woessner, a resident in Greystone Farms, said he rarely uses that intersection. He usually takes the back entrance to Greystone Farms off Shelby County 41 or takes Hugh Daniel Drive over Double Oak Mountain to get to U.S. 280.

However, he thinks the traffic signal at Hugh Daniel Drive and Shelby County 41 probably is a good idea because traffic in the area does seem to be increasing and the traffic signal likely will be needed in the future if it isn’t already.

Not everyone is convinced.

“If you want my honest opinion, it’s $600,000 for nothing,” said Gene Manville, who lives in North Lake at Greystone, the first subdivision on Hugh Daniel Drive coming from Shelby County 41. “We use that intersection probably 20 times per week. No worries.”

He’d rather see the money spent on security in schools, he said.

His wife of nearly 50 years, Ellen Manville, said she’d rather see the money spent on sidewalks, but if she had a teenager, she’d be more worried about the safety of the intersection.

In other business Monday night, the Hoover City Council:

• Heard the first reading of an ordinance to further restrict smoking in public places and workplaces, removing exemptions for hotels, restaurants with separate ventilation systems for smoking areas and bars that receive at least 40% of their sales from alcoholic beverage sales. The amended smoking ordinance also would include electronic smoking devices. Some council members raised objections to the proposed revisions, and some said they expect more revisions to make the ordinance less restrictive than as proposed.
• Approved an agreement for the city to take over management of Aldridge Gardens instead of contracting out management services to the nonprofit that has been running it. Essentially, current Aldridge employees will become city employees, and the nonprofit, which raises money for the gardens, will pay the city a management fee of $48,000 per year after a two-year reprieve. The nonprofit will continue to coordinate fundraising and obtain grants and gifts for the gardens.
• Voted 6-1 to pre-zone 5.5 acres near the intersection of South Shades Crest Road and Morgan Road as a community business district so RealtyLink Investments can combine it with 10 acres already in the city for a new retail center with a grocery store. Shelby County Commission President Jimmie Stephens said the store is slated to be a Publix. Councilman Casey Middlebrooks voted against the zoning, saying he thinks planned road improvements need to be completed prior to construction of the commercial development.
• Rezoned more than an acre at 2016 Shannon Road from a Jefferson County R-6 mobile home district to a Hoover C-1 neighborhood shopping district to allow for a commercial development. The property is at the northwest corner of Ross Bridge Parkway and Shannon Road, and the owner is seeking for it to be annexed into Hoover.
• Agreed to pay Think Big Partners $21,000 to determine the feasibility of a business incubator, business accelerator, coworking space or innovation center in Hoover to promote economic development in the city.
• Agreed to allow India Heritage to sell beer and wine for off-premise consumption at 3137 Lorna Road.
• Reappointed Dan Mikos and Lawren Pratt to the Hoover Board of Zoning Adjustment.
• Authorized Hoover police Chief Nick Derzis to seek accreditation for the Hoover Police Department with The Commission for Law Enforcement Agencies.