FOLEY – As services at Baldwin Health continue to expand, the City of Foley is taking steps to improve safety and traffic flow in the surrounding neighborhood.
The Foley City Council has approved the installation of a four-way stop at the intersection of North Alston Street and West Peachtree Avenue. Currently, only traffic on Alston Street is required to stop.
City Engineer Taylor Davis said traffic has increased as a result of recent hospital growth. Baldwin Health opened a new main entrance and lobby earlier this year and a five-story patient tower in 2024. With continued expansion anticipated, more vehicles are expected in the area.
Davis said the city received requests from residents for additional traffic controls, as well as concerns about preserving a large live oak at the northeast corner of the intersection.
“With the increased traffic now that the hospital is fully functional and the sight-distance concern there with this live oak tree, we received some requests from concerned citizens asking us to take a look at that,” Davis said.
Mayor Ralph Hellmich said the city has been monitoring traffic conditions around the hospital and determined that the new four-way stop is needed now to address growing usage.
“It’s been outstanding for a while, but with the increased traffic we felt it was important to do it now,” Hellmich said.
He noted that the oak tree has been a landmark for generations.
“That tree has been a large oak since I was a kid. It was right on the corner when that was a dirt road. Now, this is something that’s needed at the site. It will also slow traffic down in that area.”
The city will install warning flags on the new stop signs to alert drivers to the change in traffic patterns, particularly for vehicles traveling on Peachtree Avenue.
“We’ll do the signs with the flags on the four-way stop ahead and everything for a while,” Hellmich said. “It will be a learning experience with the stop on Peachtree.”