God bless my new driver who doesn’t know where she’s going anyway. I can hear the GPS now: “Turn left onto Valleydale, make a U-turn, make a U-turn, make a U-turn.”
-Brandy Bradberry Whitfield
It’s the 280 Two-Step. One intersection forward, one U-turn back! Insane.
-Jenny Valenza
280 needs the overpass system like in Huntsville! All those turn lanes to U-turn will be full, and traffic will back up. This will in no way help. And they are taking lights away but then put them back up in other places? It makes no sense.
-Kathleen Alfano
Because local communities have shot down every other idea ALDOT had (i.e. elevated highway), I think it’s the best solution. Something had to be done to try to minimize traffic on 280, especially with the addition of a new hospital. People were going to complain without construction, and people are going complain with construction. Either way, something had to be done with the increased traffic.
-Bob, via 280Living.com
This is a stupid and terrible “solution” to the 280 traffic problems. It will be a nightmare and will negatively affect every business and homeowner that lives off 280. It will be extremely difficult to get anywhere! Terrible, terrible, terrible idea!
-John, via 280Living.com
This design is not new, they have the exact same “new design” on some busy roads in the Indianapolis area, too. It has not been in place long enough yet to know how well it will or will not work. One of the major problems with this plan is that people cannot read the signs and follow the instructions properly, which creates its own set of problems.
-Christin Bockman-Pedersen
I would like to think that the reasoning behind the U-turn is that 280 westbound traffic during morning rush hour takes priority over the Valleydale travelers. It’s better to speed up that intersection for those traveling westbound even if it slows down those turning left onto Valleydale. Also, the lights should be timed to not hinder the eastbound travelers any more than they are by the Valleydale light now.
-Steven Clinkscales
I fly over 280 frequently, and seeing this from above with an understanding of what they’re trying to accomplish with the intersections does make some sense. It helps to see all the geography around the intersections, not just the cutaways of the road surface. I’ve driven enough Michigan roads to learn to appreciate the “Michigan Left,” which is the U-turn everyone is talking about. It works when people know how to do a U-turn. I’m not sure the engineers took into account that large trucks and 18-wheelers who supply Home Depot are going to be forced to do a U-turn uphill just to access Home Depot for deliveries.
-Greg McNair
Traffic is already worse. I can’t imagine how it could get better once they implement more of this crazy plan. U-turn 280 was a terrible idea!
-Deanna Campisi Straub
That is the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen. It looks like a 5 year old designed it.
-Heather Harper Pardue
Whoever came up with all these “improvements” clearly has no clue what 280 traffic is like. Nothing about all the changes is helpful in any way.
-Nancy Meeks
I think the people who came up with idea are the same ones that want to do away with the school buses in Hoover. They’re nuts and know nothing about traffic.
-Judy Myrick Miller
To me this idea is as goofy as all those “roundabouts.”
-John Devenyns
This is a plan to force overpasses on the community. I am from Huntsville, and this is exactly how you arrange an intersection with an overpass over it! They will launch this, and then when everyone screams how it doesn’t work, they will come up with the “solution” of overpasses. If you ever go to Memorial Parkway in Huntsville, just exit off at a major intersection (University Drive, Drake, Airport Road) and attempt to turn left, and you will see. The community didn’t want overpasses, so this is how you sneak them in. (It reminds me of back when we had two votes on a domed stadium and voted it down, and they are going to build one anyway!) By the way, the U-turns are also part of the overpass system.
-Leslie Everett Ellis
Hey...this plan was hatched by ALDOT, so it must be good, right?
-Randy Yarbrough
The people who came up with this stellar idea have obviously never driven on 280. U-turn? Seriously? I give this less than six months before they change it back!
-Tina Shamis Vlerebome
All it’s doing is adding more lights to an already congested area.
-Madeline Lieber Buchanan
280 planners need to stop getting their ideas from inside cereal boxes. At least step up to a blue-light special!
-Michael Cox
Why not have an access road starting at the Cahaba all the way to Highway 119, westbound and eastbound? Houston has them and it works great. There would then be no need for all those traffic lights, and thus traffic on the highway itself would move quicker and be generally much safer.
-Lisa Hargrove Little
The problem with this change is, westbound travelers turning on to Valleydale Road is not the source of the problem with U.S. 280 traffic.
-John Devenyns
I've not had any problems, this morning was a little more congested than a typical Friday but overall - LOVE the improvements, can't wait for it to be finished.
-Kim Merrill Brooks
AWFUL! Takes me twice as long to get to work!
- Laura Bohannon Laye
Not too bad compared to how it will be if Hoover discontinues bus service next year!
-Leslie Everett Ellis
About the same, but they're not done yet.
-Matthew Humphrey
Seems better to me.
-Karen LaRiviere Stewart
Much, much better! Remarkable improvement...
-Susan Gannett
I can only hope that yesterday and today are true representations of the "new and improved" 280. It only took 11 minutes to get from my garage in Inverness to work at the Summit! This at 7 a.m.!
-Pam Tindal
Have a comment on ALDOT's Intersection Improvement Plan? Post it here or email it Jeff Thompson at jeff@280living.com.
