Brookwood volunteers will be knocking on your door soon if they haven’t already done so. After a community meeting to understand the process to lower the speed limit, it was decided to complete the first step, getting 75 percent of our households represented on a petition recently received from the city’s Traffic Engineering Department.

Homeowners who attended the meeting expressed an interest in lowering the speed limit to 20 mph because of the number of children in the neighborhood. Megan Wildenstein, on Wayside Lane, is heading up a group of volunteers who will canvass the neighborhood for signatures on the petition. In Brookwood, they will need at least 80 signatures.

The petition consists of two options: speed limit reduction and/or speed humps. Property owners can vote for one or both by checking the appropriate box(es) on the petition. There is only one vote per property.

Property owners would be required to pay 50% of the cost. The estimated cost of each lowered speed limit sign is $275 (property owners’ cost $137.50). The number of signs required as determined by the Traffic Engineering Department is two for a total of $275 that would be borne by Brookwood homeowners.

The six proposed speed humps and their locations are shown on this linked plat. The cost of five speed humps is $2,500 apiece (property owners’ cost $1,250). The one on Willow Ridge Drive just south of Vestavia Court is a raised crosswalk, which would cost $5,500 (our share being $2,750). If passed, Brookwood homeowners would pay $9,000 for the speed humps.

If and when there are enough signatures, the HOA Board will decide how the costs will be paid. One option may be by a one-time special assessment. The city’s Traffic Engineering Division will be responsible for installation.

If you want to sign the petition and haven’t been approached yet to do so, please send an email that includes your name, address and a good time to reach you at home to [email protected] and we will pass along your information to Megan’s team.