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Wimbledon road project draws resident ire over delays, damage and costs
Summary
Residents pressed the commission about extensive delays, property damage and dust tied to Wimbledon (phase 1) reconstruction. City engineering apologized, promised corrective steps and said phase 2 contractor selection aims to avoid repeat problems.
Long‑running complaints about the Wimbledon (Wimbledon/Wimbleton) neighborhood road reconstruction dominated the public comment period at the April 27 Birmingham City Commission meeting. Dozens of residents described months of dust, flooded gravel streets, vehicle damage, missing sidewalks and stalled work, pressing the commission for greater transparency, accountability and possible relief for assessments.
"It's been a complete joke for nearly two years," resident Danny Hill said, describing prolonged, disruptive construction that left residents without safe sidewalks or parks. Multiple neighbors said equipment breakdowns and stalled production kept crews off site for weeks, and several said they had vehicle damage they attributed to contractor operations.
Assistant City Manager Mark Clemens and Deputy Engineer Mark told residents the project has not gone according to plan, apologized for missteps and said the city will finish work by the end of spring. Clemens said the city is changing contractors for phase 2 and named the recommended contractor (Angalan/Angalan/Angalan per the packet) and said reference checks had been performed. "We're going to learn from part one and utilize what we learned from part one to make sure it doesn't happen in phase two," Clemens said.
Residents asked for a clear accounting of road funding, given a recent state road funding bill that they said may change assessment splits. "For the next phase‑2 meeting, I request a clear breakdown of how much additional road funding the city is receiving this year and next, and how that funding will be allocated and whether it will reduce resident assessments for Wimbledon phase 2," resident Rick Bradsky said.
Commissioners asked engineering staff to provide regular updates at subsequent commission meetings and to share the materials intended for neighborhood meetings with commissioners ahead of the next phase‑2 session. Staff agreed to provide weekly or regular progress reports to keep the commission and residents informed and to document failure points from phase 1 so they can be addressed in phase 2.
Next steps: staff will provide the commission with the meeting packet for the upcoming phase‑2 neighborhood meeting, an accounting of available state road funds and a list of corrective actions and schedule commitments from the phase‑2 contractor.
