Ultimately, feasibility studies are political statements. One study might say that building a dome in Birmingham is a dandy idea, while another calls a dome the seventh sign of the Apocalypse. Often times, competing feasibility studies cancel each other out, and this certainly seems to be the case in the latest Battle of the Consultants: what to do with Highway 280.

Last Thursday (in the midst of our Mixed Media meltdown), a consultant hired by Homewood and Mountain Brook delivered an alternative analysis of the 280 problem, saying that the solution is a slower, steadier thoroughfare, with fewer stoplights and intersections to slow down traffic.

The two cities, along with private donors, hired the firm, Glatting Jackson Kercher Anglin, to do the analysis after another consulting group proposed double-decking the congested roadway, at least south of I-459 into Shelby County.

Last month, the public-private taskforce, Progress 280, proposed the extensive infrastructure, but only after fierce resistance made it politically problematic to pitch a complete project northward to the Elton B. Stephens Expressway, where it intersects in Homewood.

On Thursday night, one of the consultants, Ian Lockwood, argued that double-decking the highway would only exacerbate the problem and flies in the face of contemporary smart growth strategies.

“The cities that have tried to build their ways out of highway congestion have become the worst cities for traffic congestion, Lockwood said, citing Houston, Atlanta and Phoenix as examples.

Much of the presentation was a lesson in smart growth planning, straight out of Jane Jacobs’ Death and Life of Great American Cities. The solution to congestion to traffic congestion is more parallel roads that give local residents alternatives for shorter trips, taking that traffic off of the main through-way. Many of the smaller back roads could be connected, Lockwood said, in addition to new service roads along 280.

Lockwood’s presentation proposed turning the portion of 280 from Homewood to I-459 into more of a leisurely parkway, focusing on aesthetics and a slower, steadier pace of traffic. Instead of burst of speed and frequent stops, overpasses and off ramps would eliminate many of the stoplights and turn lanes on the roadway.

In areas of heightened development, such as the commercial strip between I-459 and Inverness, 280 could be retrofitted to work more like a boulevard, with new side streets relying on “connected network schemes” to move slower traffic. Essentially, this means new development, as well as some old, would be engineered or reconfigured to work more like urban downtown grids. Drivers would have more options than one if a road became blocked by an accident or construction.

In addition, Lockwood said, this strategy would be more conducive to commercial and mixed-use development along that portion of 280, whereas an elevated roadway would likely kill much of the existing business south of I-459.

In the most intensive component of the alternative plan, Lockwood proposed “untangling the knot” at the intersection of Highway 280 and Elton B. Stevens Expressway. In essence, 280 would make a more direct right hand turn, and at least one feeder street from Homewood would be eliminated. An underpass beneath the interchange would create a separate throughway for traffic between Homewood and Mountain Brook, eliminating merging delays and dangerous lane changes.

Another component, would add an over pass at the intersection of 280 and Green Valley Road, allowing local traffic between Vestavia Hills and Mountain Brook to cross the highway without getting on the highway. That proposed change drew warm applause from many audience members.

Lockwood cited several examples of cities that have already torn down their elevated highways or are in the planning process for doing so. Two of the examples were Tampa, Fla., and Trenton, N.J.

Lockwood’s presentation focused greatly on the potential aesthetics of Highway 280, contrasting the two proposals. An elevated highway of four to six lanes would all but destroy the beauty of the corridor, he said.

The Progress 280 proposal brought by Linda Figg of Figg Engineering Group has proposed making an elevated highway into a sort of outdoor sculpture, with rock gardens surrounding each of the pylons in the median.

In other news, this week the City of Birmingham has encouraged homeless people underneath its elevated roadways to find other places to live.

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