Ward 3 Councilman Greg Bjelke presented the Selma City Council with a petition Tuesday to hold a public hearing regarding the closure of Mallory Drive’s entrances on Dallas Avenue.

Those present at the meeting voted unanimously in favor of holding the meeting, where residents of Mallory Drive, or any residents in Selma, can voice their opinion of closing off Mallory Drive.

Residents of that area voted in a neighborhood meeting to close off that portion of the street due to the heavy traffic of motorists who use Mallory Drive as a cut through to avoid the traffic light at Hooper Drive and get to Dallas Avenue. Those who live on Mallory Drive, said they want to stop the speeding of those cutting through because of the more than 40 children who use that street to ride bikes and play.

Bjelke said if closures do occur, it is on city property and he would have to locate funds for the project, which would most likely consist of raised curbs or cement barriers.

“We held a meeting out in the grass median in May and I was surprised and it kind of threw me a curve ball, but all of the residents there decided that’s what they wanted, for those entrances to close,” Bjelke said about a neighborhood meeting with the Selma Mayor George Evans, Fire Chief Michael Stokes, Chief of Police William Riley and council president Corey Bowie.

Bjelke said in that meeting residents voiced their concerns and opinions about the safety of those that live there, their children’s safety and the increased number of burglaries. All of the residents with the exception of two were in favor of the closure.

“That is the reason for the public hearing, so that those for or against the closure can let us know their opinions,” Bjelke told council members.

Mallory Drive resident Caleb Morris and his family have lived on the street for 14 years and they are concerned about the heavy traffic going through their street.

“I really hate that any of this has to be done and I’m not adamant about the closure of any particular entrances, but I think something has to be done,” Morris said. “I am thinking about the safety of our children and this heavy flow of traffic.”

Both he and Bjelke said the timing of the petition for a public hearing is not in reaction to the planned project to close and replace a nearby bridge on Dallas Avenue; a closure that is expected to increase the cut-through traffic even more.

“This is not related to the bridge replacement [project] but we are looking at a year of cut throughs once that happens and we will have a big problem,” Morris said, also noting that if the repaving of Cahaba Road and the bridge replacement occur at the same time, those residents on Mallory Drive will be almost land-locked.

The public hearing has been scheduled for Tuesday, June 25 at 4 p.m. in the Selma City Council chamber.