Neighborhood leaders hope that a roundabout at the Five Points intersection in the Cottage Hill neighborhood will be the catalyst for revitalization in that part of downtown. (Amanda Sowards)
July 10, 2009
Traffic circle may give Five Points new life
By Scott Johnson
[email protected]
The city of Montgomery is moving forward with the last of its immediate projects to improve the downtown area.
The city is accepting construction bids for a Five Points at Cottage Hill roundabout, said Ken Groves, the city's director of planning.
The roundabout is part of a larger plan to revitalize the area where Clayton, Goldthwaite and Mobile streets meet.
Allena Curry Norman said she is glad that long-awaited improvements to the area appear to be on the horizon.
"I have been looking forward to that for 40 years," she said.
Norman has owned and operated Allena's House of Beauty on Goldthwaite Street since 1965.
While it has always been a nice neighborhood, many of the homes in the community began to fall into disrepair as some of the older residents moved out, Norman said.
After a total of 52 years in the beauty business, Norman said she is more concerned about seeing the neighborhood come alive than in any boost a roundabout might bring her business.
"I would like to see the community built up," she said.
The roundabout at Five Points will be paid for with Community Development Block Grant funds, which were approved in May, Groves said.
That came about two years after the completion of the roundabout at Court Square, which was one of the first projects identified in a plan to improve the downtown area.
The Downtown Montgomery Plan, which was adopted in May 2007, identified 20 projects for improving the downtown area.
Of those, 16 are either in progress or have been completed, Groves said.
The remaining four projects fall under the "in our generation" or "long term" classifications in the plan and include restoring the Lightning Route of electric streetcars, Groves said.
Cottage Hill Foundation Vice President Joey Brackner said he and others in the foundation believe the roundabout will jump-start development in the area.
"We think that's the one thing, the catalyst that was needed to provide some momentum," Brackner said.
Reviving Goldthwaite Street in particular is key to the area's growth, Brackner said.
"Goldthwaite could become a really important street in Montgomery for local tourism and the local economy," he said.
One landmark on Goldthwaite near Five Points is Winter Place, a pair of historic homes that were built in the mid-1800s.
Craig Drescher, who owns the property and is in the process of restoring it, said he has been excited about the roundabout since the city first began considering the idea.
"I am thrilled that it is coming, and I hope that it spurs development in an area that needs development," Drescher said.
The roundabout will serve a number of practical purposes, including improving traffic flow, said Lynda Wool, senior planner with the Planning Department.
"Generally, (a roundabout) facilitates a better flow of traffic because you are not having to stop and start as much," said Wool, who has worked on and off with the Cottage Hill area since 2004.
A roundabout also will serve to beautify the area, Wool said. The middle of the roundabout will contain an area for green space.
The plan is for the area to be more pedestrian-friendly and attract businesses.
"We want pedestrians, businesses, offices -- we want people. People make it more lively and more interesting," Wool said.
The hope is that the growth will spread to help improve both the neighborhood of Cottage Hill and downtown, she said.
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