Homewood council approves speed tables on western Oxmoor Road after residents cite dangerous traffic

The Homewood City Council voted unanimously July 14 to install traffic-calming measures on the western end of Oxmoor Road near Oakmore Drive and Northmore Drive after residents described repeated speeding, delivery trucks, and dangerous crossings near neighborhood schools.

“There's also a speeding problem,” resident Beverly Bryce LaBeouf told the council, urging action to protect children walking and crossing to Hall Kent Elementary. Multiple residents said they regularly feel unsafe crossing Oxmoor and described people using the street as a cut-through to avoid Oxmoor Boulevard.

The council discussed prefabricated speed tables (also described as speed cushions) and displayed an illustration showing a flat tabletop with sloped ramps on either side. Police and the fire chief reviewed designs; Homewood’s fire chief said the department prefers cushions that allow wide fire trucks to straddle the center so emergency response is not impeded, and that the 25 mph speed limit in the area is the intended traveling speed over the devices.

Councilors said the proposed devices are intended to deter nonlocal cut-through traffic while preserving emergency access. The ordinance directs the city engineer to install traffic-calming measures at locations shown in the ordinance’s Exhibit A and authorizes appropriate signs, markings and penalties for violations. The text of the ordinance makes violations misdemeanors subject to penalties in the city code.

The council considered public comment from parents and neighbors—Paul Liggott, Ryan Melvin, Dane Alexander, Rob Shaw, Fuad Khalil—and read a written statement from William Elkins, 513 Edgcrest Drive, in support of the measures. After committee discussions and a unanimous recommendation from the Public Safety committee, the council approved the ordinance by a 10‑0 vote; the ordinance was recorded as No. 2943.

Engineering staff told the council that the final material—concrete or asphalt—would be determined by the engineering department and that repaving planned by the city would allow concurrent installation. The council also discussed placement so as not to shift traffic to other neighborhood streets; officials said Oxmoor is the primary parallel east‑west route and that the placement is not expected to push traffic onto other local streets.

Ordinance 2943 passed on unanimous vote at the July 14 meeting. The city will proceed with design and installation at the locations described in Exhibit A and with traffic-control markings and signage as authorized by the ordinance.