Bluff Park, Alabama Forum

Bluff Park, Alabama Forum
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General Category >> General Board >> Road Closure - Valley Street
http://bluffparkal.org/bpforum/YaBB.pl?num=1263326398

Message started by Bluff Park Forum Admin on 01/12/10 at 1:59pm

Title: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by Bluff Park Forum Admin on 01/12/10 at 1:59pm

We are awaiting word from the city engineer on the closure to thru traffic on Valley Street as they begin the next phase at Fancher and Tyler Road. The Detour Signs have already been placed at the location, but have not gone up yet. As soon as we hear from them, we'll post an update.

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by ldauro on 01/13/10 at 8:44am

This morning Mountain drive was blocked at the Clearview rd intersection - does this have to do with the construction? Any advice for getting around back to Alford?

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by Bluff Park Forum Admin on 01/13/10 at 11:07am

We spoke to the engineering department of the city this morning and here's what they said:

Valley Street will be closed off today to THROUGH TRAFFIC for next next 3-4 months. Residents who live on Valley will be able to get to their homes.

The entire project of joining Alford/Fancher to Valley will be complete in 12-18 months.

Remember that these are estimates that rely on many factors, including weather.

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by Bluff Park Forum Admin on 01/14/10 at 9:38am

UPDATE FROM HOOVER PUBLIC WORKS DEPT. 9:00 AM 1/14/10

Hoover Public Works received a call from Advanced Disposal advising they were having difficulty getting to the residences on Valley Street due to the closure.

Hoover Public Works is working with the Engineering Department, the contractor on site, and Advanced Disposal to get this resolved as soon as possible.

They will send us updates and we'll post them when we receive them.

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by Bluff Park Forum Admin on 01/14/10 at 1:17pm

UPDATE FROM HOOVER PUBLIC WORKS DEPT. 1:00 PM 1/14/10

Advanced Disposal was able to collect garbage from the home inside the barricades. They will continue to go around them with the big truck or a smaller one unless told differently by the project inspector

If anyone does have a garbage/trash collection problem within the construction site, please call Public Works at 444-7543.

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by Bluff Park Forum Admin on 01/15/10 at 12:10pm

The Engineering Department has sent us a map of the detour area:

http://bluffparkal.org/Docs/Phase2DetourPlan.pdf

It is in PDF format

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by Steve - LeAnne on 01/15/10 at 3:44pm

Would it be possible to get a map, like the one posted of the detours, for the way the final intersection(s) will be laid out? I do not suppose it really matters, but I'm curious.

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by Bluff Park Forum Admin on 01/15/10 at 4:05pm

Steve - LeAnne wrote:

Would it be possible to get a map, like the one posted of the detours, for the way the final intersection(s) will be laid out? I do not suppose it really matters, but I'm curious.

We're going to see if this is available from the Engineering Dept. and will post it if they send it to us.

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by Bryan2245 on 01/16/10 at 11:52am

I live inside the construction area and was given a map about two years ago when we were contacted about the city buying some of our land. I will scan the map monday when I get to work

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by fl350 on 01/24/10 at 8:18pm

Here is a link to a map of the construction.

http://blog.al.com/hoover/2009/05/bluffpark.jpeg

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by Bluff Park Forum Admin on 01/24/10 at 8:51pm

Thanks for the link, fl350. Bryan3345 did send us a scanned copy of the construction map (thanks Bryan3345!) and we were attempting to get it posted on the site at a good size, but were having a problem reducing the file size.

This link is very good, though, thanks!

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by JBH on 01/24/10 at 9:12pm

That looks good, but I wish they would have figured out how to open the one part before closing the other. Oh well, as long as I remember....

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by Matt and Amanda on 02/03/10 at 7:50am

http://blog.al.com/birmingham-news-stories/2010/02/intersection_changes_are_topic.html

Hoover city officials will hold a public forum Sunday morning at Bluff Park United Methodist Church to describe construction underway at the Tyler Road intersection with Valley Street and Fancher Drive.

Some people are confused by the detour plan after the closure of Valley Street two weeks ago, said city assistant executive director Tim Westhoven.

He and city engineer Rodney Long will describe the intersection changes and future closures of Tyler and Fancher roads. The presentation begins at 9:45 a.m. in the church's chapel at 733 Valley St.

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by Bluff Park Forum Admin on 02/03/10 at 8:21am

Matt and Amanda wrote:

This morning's paper implies that the meeting has already taken place (last Sunday), according to the article by Liz Ellaby. The first paragraph in the article reads as follows: "Drivers confused by detours around a long planned intersection realignment in Bluff Park had a chance to hear more details Sunday as Hoover enginners aswered questions at Bluff Park United Methodist Church."

I have e-mailed the city, along with the engineers mentioned, to find out more details, although the article in the paper is extremely thorough.

I will post their response when I receive it.

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by Bluff Park Forum Admin on 02/03/10 at 2:26pm

****UPDATE****

OK, seems there was some confusion about this meeting regarding the construction.

I just got off the phone with the mayor's office and here are the details:

There was a meeting at UMBP last Sunday (Jan. 31). This meeting was requested by one of the Sunday schools at the church. Mr. Westhoven and Mr. Long did attend and answered questions regarding the construction.

There was a notice in Friday's paper about the meeting, but it was not posted online.

The story in this morning's paper, Hoover section is correct. The blog entry posted earlier authored by Liz Elleby was not correct and has since been taken down (if you click on it, it will display Page Not Found)(it is still listed on the Community page index (http://blog.al.com/birmingham-news-stories/community/index.html), but when you click on Full Story it goes to Page Not Found. There is no meeting this Sunday at UMBP. It was referencing last Sunday's meeting.

The city is willing to have another meeting at our choosing to discuss the construction. I have told them that I will get a feel for how many people would like to attend and get back to them to arrange a date and time. We can have the meeting at the Bluff Park Community School lunch room, but I will need to give them plenty of notice.

In order to find out if this is worthwhile, we've posted a poll. Please take a minute to respond to it:
http://bluffparkal.org/bpforum/YaBB.pl?num=1265228724/0#0

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by bparkian on 03/09/10 at 6:36pm

WHY exactly are they doing all of this??? :-?

Title: Re: why
Post by BluffParkWriter on 03/31/10 at 12:14pm

Here is an article from May of last year that covers it.

Its in another thread that is kind of old now so I just moved it up here.

http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/hoover.ssf?/base/community/124220253574130.xml&coll=2

Plans call for smoothing out a curve on Tyler Road and relocating its intersection with Fancher Drive. Fancher also would be rerouted and turn lanes added to it, as well as to Tyler Road and Valley Street.

Long said two new traffic signals will be added at the intersection of Fancher Drive and Valley Street, and Fancher Drive and Tyler Road. New sidewalks will be placed along Valley Street and Tyler Road and a portion of Fancher Drive, according to Long.

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by Bluff Park Forum Admin on 06/21/10 at 10:12am

Signs indicate that Tyler Road to Fancher Road and Fancher Road will be closed on Tuesday, June 22. We have received some e-mails asking how long the closing will be and what the detour will be.

We have left a message with the City Engineer asking those questions and will post the answers once we receive them.

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by Bluff Park Forum Admin on 06/21/10 at 12:37pm

Here's the latest from the City of Hoover Engineering Department:

Tyler Road to Fancher Rd.. and Fancher Rd. to Shadybrook Ln. will be closed beginning on Tuesday, June 22, 2010. The estimate is that the roads will be closed for about six months.

Valley Street is now open from Park Ave. to Tyler Road.

The detour from Alford Ave. will be to Shadybrook Lane, then Shadybrook Lane to Valley Street. Valley Street to Mountain Drive. Mountain Drive to Clearbrook Rd.

We will try to get a map posted by Tuesday.

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by ht2 on 06/21/10 at 2:31pm

Bluff Park Forum Admin wrote:

It is mind-boggling to me that this is going to take 6 months. Seems like they would shoot to get this competed before school starts, but seeing how long it took to do the Valley portion, I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by JBH on 06/21/10 at 4:25pm

Please do get a map if you can...a picture is worth a thousand words.

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by Bluff Park Forum Admin on 06/21/10 at 9:19pm

JBH wrote:

Please do get a map if you can...a picture is worth a thousand words.

http://www.bluffparkal.org/Docs/Phase_3_Detour.pdf

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by BPLifer 2 on 06/22/10 at 11:52am

I cannot believe it is going to be closed that long. Man I use that road three or four times a days. Major bummer!

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by BPLifer 2 on 06/22/10 at 8:40pm

That's not surprising at all. Although when I drove by there on Valley Street I looked down and there were a lot trucks and machines parked in the road so whoever ignored the signs likely had to turn back around. I'm not sure there was a way to get through.

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by bpresident on 06/22/10 at 10:11pm

BPLifer 2 wrote:

I drove past there shortly after noon and the intersection of Fancher and Tyler didn't seem like a car could drive on it anymore.

It was also my first time on the re-done Valley Street and it looked good.

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by Leo on 06/23/10 at 10:56pm

8-) They need to put up stop signs on Alford where the construction starts so that it is a legal 4 way stop. There are already stop signs on both sides of shadybrook lane I think. People are zooming around baracades today and not looking to the left where the detour from tyler comes in. I could of been hit today if I did not slam on brakes. Especially if it is going to last 6 months because alford has always been a cut thru for many people in a hurry

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by ht2 on 06/24/10 at 7:36am

They have wisely blocked off the back entrance of Mr. P's, which has helped a lot. If you go through the barricade on Fancher toward Tyler, you will have to turn around. Wish they'd done that when Valley was being worked on.

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by asbcor on 06/29/10 at 4:45pm

I'm trying to envision what the finished intersection will look like. Has anyone seen a drawing?

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by BluffParkWriter on 06/29/10 at 5:41pm

I have a call in to see if I can get a scan of the plan

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by BluffParkWriter on 06/29/10 at 5:47pm

Here are a few photos of the work, I will update as I get new photos. click on banner for a slideshow

http://s437.photobucket.com/albums/qq99/bluffwriter/construction/th_banner_1.jpg (http://s437.photobucket.com/albums/qq99/bluffwriter/construction/?action=view&current=3bb84fb3.pbw)

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by asbcor on 06/29/10 at 7:03pm

Thank you BluffParkWriter...

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by BluffParkWriter on 06/30/10 at 7:26pm

I have the map, working on getting it to a form I can post

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by Bluff Park Forum Admin on 06/30/10 at 9:45pm

BluffParkWriter wrote:

I have the map, working on getting it to a form I can post

A copy is available by going to the Neighborhood Updates page on the BluffParkAl.org (http://www.bluffparkal.org/neighborhood_updates.htm) web site. Go to the 6/30/10 update. Note: Due to it's very large size (500kb+), once you have clicked on the link and opened the file (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader), click on the Save icon in the Acrobat Reader toolbar and save it to your hard drive.

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by Bluff Park Guy on 08/18/10 at 10:44am

Does anyone have any updates from Hoover as to how long it is going to take them to finish the Fancher/Tyler road restructuring? It appeared they were working on the area pretty quickly but seems to have slowed down quite a bit. Since school has started back the traffic is horrendous.

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by asbcor on 08/18/10 at 1:09pm

It's not good for the local businesses either.

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by harvardmba on 09/15/10 at 5:32pm

I would just settle for a little attention from HPD to stem the flow of speeders

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by asbcor on 09/22/10 at 11:21am

Oh wow....it's actually starting to look like a road! Do I dare hope it opens soon? :-/

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by ht2 on 09/22/10 at 9:49pm

asbcor wrote:

Oh wow....it's actually starting to look like a road! Do I dare hope it opens soon? :-/

They still have curbs, sidewalks, landscaping, and other stuff I probably haven't thought of. I think it'll be a while longer. If I find out anything I will report back.

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by asbcor on 09/22/10 at 10:45pm

Oh yeah :( Well the visible progress is encouraging :)

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by ht2 on 09/26/10 at 3:43pm

Their goal is to have the project completed by Thanksgiving.

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by asbcor on 09/30/10 at 1:18pm

Totally finished? That would be awesome! Thanks for the info!

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by asbcor on 11/02/10 at 1:15pm

Is Alford still going to intersect with Old Tyler?

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by irrigator on 11/02/10 at 2:31pm

Yes it will.

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by harvardmba on 11/21/10 at 6:55am

does anyone have an update on when this project will be completed and opened for use?

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by Bluff Park Forum Admin on 11/21/10 at 7:09am

harvardmba wrote:

does anyone have an update on when this project will be completed and opened for use?

During my last conversation with Tim Westhoven, who's with the City of Hoover, in early October, the plan was to have it ready before or by Thanksgiving. Based on the looks of things, it certainly seems possible.

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by ht2 on 11/22/10 at 1:28pm

There hasn't been much activity lately that I can see. They put grass down a couple of weeks ago, but still have to put up traffic lights and stripe the roads. It looks like they still need to put a top layer of asphalt on the road but who knows. I think we'll be lucky if it's done before the end of the year.

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by JBH on 12/13/10 at 7:23pm

Looks like you may have been right.

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by harvardmba on 01/06/11 at 4:48pm

one more time - any update on this projects completion date? >:(

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by Bluff Park Forum Admin on 01/07/11 at 4:09pm

harvardmba wrote:

one more time - any update on this projects completion date? >:(

I just got off the phone with Rod Long, who is the engineer for the City of Hoover. I asked him your question. His short answer was "We'd like to know also".

Here's the long answer:

This entire project is being funded by the Alabama Department of Transportation (DOT). In November, the city wrote a letter to the DOT asking when the project would be completed. There has not been an official answer yet. Techinically the road could be opened, but there are a couple of things missing. One is the road striping. Another is a traffic light. Plus, there will need to be one additional layer of asphalt that will need to be put down in order to avoid flooding. These three things are holding the project up.

Mr. Long sounded as frustrated as the rest of us regarding the completion. It sounded to me that he was just as anxious to have it finished as everyone else (apparently I'm wasn't the only one who has called about this).

Here's the kicker to the whole thing: the contractor has until June 2011 to have it completed.

More information as it becomes available.

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by JBH on 01/09/11 at 12:55pm

Maybe he can let us know who the contractor is ;)

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by jmc on 01/09/11 at 1:56pm

That's exactly what I was thinking - if we all started calling the contractor we might get quicker results! :P

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by Bluff Park Forum Admin on 01/09/11 at 10:26pm

JBH wrote:

Maybe he can let us know who the contractor is ;)

I got the impression that the one's who need to be talked to is the DOT. I think the contractor would like to be finished, just like we would like them to be finished.

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by Recap on 01/19/11 at 9:17pm

They need to just go ahead and open the road because people are cutting through. I don't know how they are doing it, but there was a car in front of me this afternoon who went straight thru the barricades onto Fancher instead of turning off Alford at the detour. When I got around to the Catholic Church on Valley, that car had gotten through somehow somewhere and was in front of Bluff Park UMC. Going the other way, when I am at the stop sign to turn left onto Alford, I also see cars coming up the curve off Tyler onto the construction part.

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by ht2 on 01/20/11 at 8:06pm

Recap wrote:

The barricades are set up/staggered so that the people who live on the section under construction can get through. Non-residents have been cutting through for months.

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by RockviewResident on 02/02/11 at 4:37pm

I always cut through.

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by harvardmba on 02/02/11 at 5:49pm

why?

Title: Fancher Drive / Alford Avenue e-mail Brain Davis
Post by lmbolus on 02/02/11 at 12:31pm

Fellow Bluff Park residents. PLEASE e-mail Brain Davis at:
DavisB@dot.state.al.us about when Fancher Drive et al roads will open again. I am tired of this road being clsoed. If the State gets lots of e-mails maybe they will finally open the road.

Thanks,

-NB

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by BPLifer 2 on 02/05/11 at 6:39pm

I don't understand why people are cutting through even though the road isn't open. I know it's more convenient to do that and it's a pain un the butt to take the detour but what makes people think they are special enough to not have to follow the rules? Obviously the road is still closed for a reason. So quit using it!

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by bpresident on 02/06/11 at 7:07am

BPLifer 2 wrote:

I take the detour every day. It is inconvenient and I do see those that take the closed road. I've almost been hit twice by people coming out of there. I'm sure it's the same folks who don't understand the concept of a stop sign in Bluff Park. To them rules are for others.

From what I heard, HPD is going to put an officer on a motorcycle over there at various times during the day. If you don't live there, you get a ticket. No warnings. At $135 per ticket, that should rack up some revenue.

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by BPLifer 2 on 02/06/11 at 10:28am

Good! I'm glad to hear that they are going to try and do something.

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by ane3030 on 02/07/11 at 9:56pm

Yes the people that cut through the road closure in the AM really back things up on the detour down Shady Brook Ln., people just waving at each other trying to figure out who goes next at that intersection.

Who is the genius that posted a yield sign on the back of the road closure, who exactly are they supposed to yield to, the people sitting at the STOP sign?? As far as I know, yielding trumps Stop so yes they can blow right by and cause an accident. OK, so someone spray painted stop on the back, which is it, yield, stop both?? I'd like to know why Hoover PD doesn't care about this problem.

And yes, beyond 6:30 at night I go through the road closure because i've almost been hit twice turning left from shades crest onto valley. That is the WORST designed intersection i have ever seen... with two people waiting to turn left, they just sit there until someone guns it. Problem is, with glaring headlights, sometimes you can't see well who has gunned it and Wham! What I do now is just pull up and pretend like i am going straight so they don't pull left down the mountain and hit me, and last second put on my left turn blinker and try to make it through with my life.

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by Recap on 02/09/11 at 1:01pm

Hurrah. Maybe some progress. Crews putting up traffic lights around noon today at the intersection where Fancher & Tyler meet. Now if they will just put them into operation and open the road instead of letting them just hang there for several more months with the barricades still up.

Haven't seen any HPD stopping "cut-throughs" when I've been out and about, so we're still the red-headed stepchild area of Hoover getting ignored about our traffic concerns.

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by harvardmba on 02/10/11 at 6:31pm

OPEN THE ROAD ALREADY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by Recap on 02/11/11 at 8:26am

Heard on Fox6News last night that work is stopped on Alford Avenue/Valley Street "because of weather". Work stopped LONG before it got so cold, so I guess "any" type of weather is a reaon for the contractor to just shut down!

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by Bluff Park Forum Admin on 02/11/11 at 10:59am

We received this e-mail a few minutes ago:

I just spoke with Adriana Dunn with ALDOT. She says that ALDOT is overseeing the project from a safety standpoint but that it is actually City of Hoover's project, not ALDOT's. She said the contractor was given 275 working days to complete the project. Holidays, weekends and bad weather do not count in the total number of days allowed. Thus far he has used 180 days. She said that a large part of the delay on the project is due to temps being too low to lay the last layer of asphalt. She claims that Dunn Construction will come next week, IF temps stay in the upper 50's-60's, to finish the last layer. After that they will lay down temporary striping and re-open the road. The project is not complete though. Alabama Power located the signal controls at the wrong location and they must be relocated. Once they finally show up and finish that, the road will be closed again to complete the signal work. They plan to use stop signs in the meantime to get the roads re-opened. She sounded very reasonable, but I'm sure there will still be delays, delays and more delays.

Here is her info if you would like to contact her yourself.

Adriana L. Dunn
County Transportation Manager
Alabama Department of Transportation
Birmingham- Third Division
T.(205)581-5904
dunna@dot.state.al.us

So there you have it. Thanks, BB, for the e-mail. Great information.

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by irrigator on 02/11/11 at 11:00pm

"Alabama Power located the signal controls at the wrong location and they must be relocated" Great use of tax payers money, they can't read a set of plans? I wonder if Alabama Power will submit a "change order" and get paid for the relocation or will they move them on their own dime?

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by Recap on 02/14/11 at 1:13am

Does anyone know if there will be traffic lights at the intersection of Valley & Fancher at the cemetery/Catholic church/Primerica? There is a covered up "Yield" sign at the Catholic church meaning anyone coming from Bluff Park UMC to turn right onto Fancher will have to yield to left-turners coming off of Shades Crest. This has always been a traffic jam area in morning rush hour with left-turners having to sit and wait for someone to let them turn. If right-turners have to yield to left-turners, and if the traffic lights going up at Fancher/Tyler aren't synced just right, traffic on Valley is going to now back up in the other direction. What about people coming off Fancher to turn left onto Valley? When do they get to turn? This should at least be a 3-way stop intersection if there aren't going to be any traffic lights there.

This whole road "improvement" has seemed to be a joke on "we the people" for quite a while. I'll be the first to praise it IF it actually works and traffic flows better, but something just doesn't feel right about how it's been planned out "on paper".

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by ht2 on 02/18/11 at 9:18am

Complete cluster last night. Fancher was completely barricaded coming from Alford (which is what should have happened the entire time), and the people who had been illegally cutting through for months didn't know what to do. This was after 6PM, so I can't imagine what it was like in the earlir period of rush hour. This morning, the barrells were removed, so maybe people can get back to breaking the law today.

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by Bluff Park Forum Admin on 02/18/11 at 2:03pm

ht2 wrote:

Great post.

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by Bluff Park Forum Admin on 02/18/11 at 2:13pm

We just received an e-mail from Councilman Gene Smith with an update on the road.

Mr. Smith spoke to Rod Long, the City Engineer, who advised him that the road was scheduled to open next week. However, Alabama Dept. of Transportation wants to place the new lights on blink for 7 days prior to opening the road (Note: At 12:45 pm 2/18/11 they were blinking). ALDOT normally requires this when new signalization occurs at existing intersections. He's hoping that the road will open sometime around Feb. 28.

We were informed today that if a vehicle travels that road while it's closed their insurance company will not cover the accident (we're not insurance experts, so we don't know if that's correct), so be very careful while travelling in that area. We've almost been hit twice so far from people cutting through there and thinking they have some sort of right-of-way as they come out.

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by BPLifer 2 on 02/21/11 at 6:46pm

Noticed today that they also have new lights (although they are covered right now) at the Shades Crest/Valley intersection. Hopefully that place won't be a death trap anymore!

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by ht2 on 02/22/11 at 2:27pm

BPLifer 2 wrote:

Noticed today that they also have new lights (although they are covered right now) at the Shades Crest/Valley intersection. Hopefully that place won't be a death trap anymore!

Did the same person design the Shades Crest/Valley and Fancher/Tyler intersections? They seem really poorly thought-out.

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by Bluff Park Forum Admin on 02/22/11 at 6:23pm

Road is open for traffic. Drove on it for the first time. Traffic lights were still flashing.

Finally.

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by Recap on 02/22/11 at 8:11pm

Bluff Park Forum Admin wrote:

Road is open for traffic. Drove on it for the first time. Traffic lights were still flashing.

Finally.

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by ponder on 02/23/11 at 9:20am

Recap wrote:

[quote author=Bluff Park Forum Admin link=1263326398/60#72 date=1298420589]Road is open for traffic. Drove on it for the first time. Traffic lights were still flashing.

Finally.

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by Recap on 02/23/11 at 1:56pm

ponder wrote:

[quote author=Recap link=1263326398/60#73 date=1298427106][quote author=Bluff Park Forum Admin link=1263326398/60#72 date=1298420589]Road is open for traffic. Drove on it for the first time. Traffic lights were still flashing.

Finally.

When I came Alford at 4:00 the Fancher end didn't have barricades but I went the detour route anyway because I could see orange and white barrels in the street near the traffic lights. Lots of people did the same as me, but lots of people went straight onto Fancher. When I got around to Valley there were barricades in place but not totally blocking the intersection. I guess I'll see if those barricades are gone in the morning. I sure don't want to get a ticket for driving on the road "too soon".[/quote]

I did the same thing yesterday afternoon. I wasn't sure if the road was completely open or not, so I took the detour. It looks like the barricades are only blocking the center median down by Valley St. I came down Valley St. this morning, and other cars were taking the new road, so I followed them. I still don't understand the yield sign coming off of Valley, but I assume the road is open until they put the road blocks back up to finish the traffic lights?
[/quote]

The yield sign at Valley & Fancher/Tyler appears to be for people in the right turn lane to yield to left turners coming from Shades Crest. Since when were left-turners given the right of way on a main road when there is no traffic light? Based on the 12 years I have lived in Bluff Park and travelled that intersection twice a day, I think a traffic light or three way stop is going to be needed there. It's going to be interesting to see if this simple little intersection stays the malfunction junction it's always been.

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by Recap on 03/06/11 at 7:09pm

Anyone have any idea why the barrels are blocking the left turn lane from Fancher onto Valley? Doesn't make sense to me why this lane is being barricaded.

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by Forolemiss on 03/10/11 at 8:29am

I like this intersection. I don’t know if it saves any time, but it is easy to get through and you don’t have to worry about somebody t-boning you like the old one.

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by Bluff Park Guy on 03/10/11 at 9:18am

saves a bunch of time over the old intersection that use to back up down Valley Ave. in the mornings.

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by ht2 on 03/10/11 at 11:19am

Agree with all. Though it took a lot longer than it should have to finish, this design is a drastic improvement over the old clusterfudge.

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by pekaboo on 03/11/11 at 12:54am

To be honest, it looks weird driving down Alford/Fancher from 65, where its a normal one lane back and forth opposite direction residential street, then all of a sudden it widens, and the gets narrow again. I was talking to somebody, and he was surprised that the road was placed there and why was the house (one you see before the road turns from Fancher to Tyler), not demolished. I told him that maybe somebody lived there, maybe its historic, or it just wasn't the right fit. I will see in the morning time, If I am at the light and its red, If I am on Tyler trying to right onto fancher/alford, I need to be careful with cars going straight on alford coming from my left, especially if they are driving fast. What I also don't understand is why is it if you are on Alford coming from 65, and you are planning on turning left at the light to connect to Tyler, why is there a left turn arrow on the ground, that if somebody were to turn exactly where that arrow was they would turn up on to concrete and into somebody's home. Then there is another arrow right where it should be at the light. Was the one before that an accident, or is it a warning arrow?

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by BluffParkWriter on 03/11/11 at 12:16pm

pekaboo wrote:

I was talking to somebody, and he was surprised that the road was placed there and why was the house (one you see before the road turns from Fancher to Tyler), not demolished. I told him that maybe somebody lived there, maybe its historic, or it just wasn't the right fit.

There were 2 home bought by the city and demolished (next to the one you are talking about) to make way for the road. The one you are talking about is lived in and was not part of the original plan. I want to say it had something to do with a right of way...

Title: Re: Road Closure - Valley Street
Post by nickel4al on 03/14/11 at 12:34pm

pekaboo wrote:

What I also don't understand is why is it if you are on Alford coming from 65, and you are planning on turning left at the light to connect to Tyler, why is there a left turn arrow on the ground, that if somebody were to turn exactly where that arrow was they would turn up on to concrete and into somebody's home. Then there is another arrow right where it should be at the light. Was the one before that an accident, or is it a warning arrow?

This is called a warning arrow...they are very common around most parts of the city/state/country. Most people realize you don't turn where the arrows are, but instead where the road is.