Sam Gaston Answers Your Questions About Mountain Brook

MOUNTAIN BROOK, AL — Patch readers in Mountain Brook have the opportunity each month to get questions and concerns about the city addressed by City Manager Sam Gaston, and for February, Gaston covered some hot topics from readers.

Traffic and transit always seems to be on the forefront of residents' minds, and this month was no exception, as readers submitted questions regarding excessive speeding on one of Mountain Brook's busiest roads, and about bus routes to and from downtown.

Here are this month's questions from Patch readers, and Gaston's answers:

Would creating a sidewalk connector from Euclid to Beech Circle be something that the city would find favorable for consideration now since it is closed off for thru-traffic?

A sidewalk connector from Euclid to Beech Circle would have to be funded by a grant and we currently have three sidewalk projects in the works over the next few years. Some short sections might be completed by our Public Works Dept.

I would like to see the 50 and 51 MAX buses (Cahaba/Hermitage) be expanded for direct transit / rideshare usage as the current schedule prevents me from going INTO Birmingham FROM Mountain Brook in the mornings and prevents me going FROM Birmingham INTO Mountain Brook in the evenings.

This would be a discussion the City would need to have with MAX on the next budget year.

Why does Euclid Avenue's signs say "Speed limit strictly enforced" but it is like an interstate, so many speeders disrespecting a neighborhood street? If the MB Police are not going to enforce Euclid Ave. just raise the speed limit to 45 instead of 30.

Our Police Dept does enforce the speed limit on all streets, Euclid is a heavily travel road with a few straight areas that does enhance speed. I will ask our police deptartment to monitor this area more often.

There was a long period of time for leaves to be waiting for pickup before Thanksgiving till the actual pickup date. Around Jan. 8 or so. Could it be due to the holiday season falling in the middle of 2 weeks? I may have to replace some grass this spring.

We have always offered 4 pick-ups during leaf season with the 2nd round, between Thanksgiving and Christmas being the heaviest round. One of our Public Works employees monitors the pick-up and report missed piles to Waste Management. If a residence is missed, they can call my office at 802-3800 to report it and we will have Waste Management return to collect the missed pile.

Patch connects with Sam Gaston once a month to discuss issues readers have regarding the city. Look for the Patch Neighbor Post requesting your thoughts and comments in March.