Commission approves redesign of Wimbledon/Poppleton intersections, adds stop controls

The Birmingham City Commission voted to approve a redesign of the Wimbledon and Poppleton intersections, directing engineering staff to revise plans before underground infrastructure work begins.

City staff and two independent traffic consultants presented multiple options for the intersections, recommending either a reconfiguration of the intersection geometry (option 3C) or a more aggressive stop-control layout (option 3A). Staff said design changes would add only about $1,000 of design cost per intersection and would not materially increase construction costs. “It’s negligible,” the city manager’s office said during the presentation.

Residents who live adjacent to the intersections urged commissioners to pick the least disruptive plan. Cliff Rager, who lives at 541 Wimbledon, said he preferred the option that made the smallest change to neighborhood parking but still provided stop control. “Our preference is 5E simply because it’s the least amount of change to the intersection, and it has a stop sign on Wimbledon,” Rager said.

After discussion, a commissioner moved to approve option 3A for Wimbledon and 5B for Warwick/Poppleton (a reconfiguration plus stop control). The motion carried on a roll-call vote; one commissioner recorded a no vote and the motion passed. Commissioners asked engineers to examine whether minor adjustments could preserve parking for nearby homeowners where feasible and to evaluate crosswalk placement.

The commission emphasized that the vote allows designers to change the plans now so underground work for Wimbledon Phase 2 can proceed with the revised geometry. Engineers noted removing stop signs later could be difficult and recommended careful placement before construction.

Next steps: engineering will produce final drawings incorporating the approved options and return with implementation details and, where applicable, recommendations to mitigate parking impacts for adjacent residences.