Birmingham’s East Lake Safe Streets initiative: Temporary closures now permanent

Street closures that started as an experiment for safer streets in East Lake will now become permanent after the Birmingham City Council approved a contract to replace temporary barriers with permanent curbs.

More than a dozen blocked streets will have their concrete Jersey barriers removed and replaced with permanent decorative barriers that will include tree planters.

“That will look like curbing and plantings with steel bollards in place that will effectively block the street from vehicular traffic,” said Birmingham City Council President Darrell O’Quinn said.

“It’s just a lot more aesthetically appealing way of doing it.”

The Birmingham City Council on Tuesday approved a $372,482 contract with Gillespie Construction LLC to install the new barriers.

The temporary concrete walls served the intended purpose of stopping drive-through traffic that sometimes led to crimes such as shooting into occupied dwellings, O’Quinn said.

That was a success, he said. “There has been significant improvement in a number of areas,” O’Quinn said.

The major complaint from residents about the barriers was that they were ugly, he said.

“I don’t think anybody will have anything complimentary to say about Jersey barriers,” O’Quinn said. “It’s a moveable wall.”

The new curbing will be more suitable for the neighborhood, he said.

“This fits with the neighborhood,” O’Quinn said. “It looks like another portion of the street, like it was designed to be there.”

The success of the East Lake Safe Streets initiative may serve as a model and lead to similar efforts in other neighborhoods, he said.

“Now that this has shown to be impactful, it certainly will be up for consideration for other communities,” O’Quinn said.