When work wraps up on the widening of Interstate 565, peak-hour congestion like this could be a thing of the past. The state fast-tracked the project to accommodate traffic associated with the new Mazda Toyota Manufacturing facility off Greenbrier Parkway.
Restore Our Roads
City leaders say planning, partnerships key to strong infrastructure
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f the adage is true that “development follows roads,” then Huntsthe Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT). The $250 milville’s growth shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. The City’s major lion cost-sharing initiative focused on projects the Metropolitan Planarteries, collectors, and multi-lane surface streets make it easier to ning Organization (MPO) identified as priorities. move both products and people, which are attractive qualities to poRestore Our Roads launched during a time when projects in other tential businesses and industries. parts of the state were being canceled over a lack of funding. City DiThe cost to build and maintain roads isn’t cheap, and the process rector of Engineering Kathy Martin said some citizens questioned why can often take several years from conception to fruition. That aside, Huntsville would spend its own money to improve state and federal Mayor Tommy Battle and the City Council believe the return on inroads, but explained the City needed to be a part of the solution instead. vestment outweighs the cost and temporary irritation. “Without that agreement, I don’t know that we would be reaping Roads and infrastructure have been a major cornerstone of Mayor Batthe benefits we are today,” Martin said. “It was a bold move by our leadership, but it worked.” tle’s administration because he doesn’t want the City’s galactic growth Curtis Vincent, region engineer for ALDOT, explained the joint to result in rush-hour gridlock. He has long strived to ensure 15-minute funding agreement is a win-win for the state. He said Huntsville’s commutes for citizens, no matter where in the City they reside. “Right now, our transportation grid is our No. 1 priGreenbrier Parkway: City Director of Urban and Economic Development Shane Davis, right, and Mayor Tommy Battle ority,” he said. “We have to grow our infrastructure and survey progress on Greenbrier Parkway in road system; it’s part of our big master plan.”
A Quality of Life Issue
Huntsville-annexed Limestone County.
It’s easy to think of roads as nothing more than overpriced asphalt with a dividing line. Citizens tend to notice them more when they are in disrepair or if work impacts their commute. Huntsville’s transportation grid has played a major role in the City’s continued success in attracting large industries like Mazda Toyota Manufacturing (MTM), Polaris, Facebook and GE Aviation, to name a few. Those companies brought thousands of jobs to the Rocket City, but they are nothing but empty buildings if employees can’t get there. In the case of MTM, the City’s promise to improve three roads helped seal the deal. The largest of those projects is the four-lane Greenbrier Parkway, a $77.3 million four-lane highway that should open later this year. It spans from Interstate 565 to the south to Huntsville-Browns Ferry Road to the north, near the intersection of Interstate 65. “They have to get 6,400 people to work and back home, which is more than 12,000 trips per day,” Battle said of the MTM plant. “We needed to get workers in and get them back to their cars and homes quickly. That’s part of quality of life. Any time you can spend with your family or doing recreational activities, that’s what it’s all about.”
Restore Our Roads History Battle, who began his fourth mayoral term in 2020, has seen ambitious road projects come to fruition, thanks to both a progressive City Council and federal and state funding. When the Alabama Transportation Rehabilitation Improvement Program (ATRIP) kicked off in 2012, the Huntsville-Madison County area received the lion’s share of the funding. In 2014, Huntsville debuted Restore Our Roads, a partnership with A HUNTSVILLE/MADISON COUNTY CHAMBER PUBLICATION
own investment has helped land road dollars that might have been committed elsewhere. “Transportation funding is limited, and in a state facing an ever-growing backlog of capacity needs, projects must be prioritized,” he said. “For ALDOT, projects with that ‘bang-for-your-buck’ factor are certainly more attractive. This agreement presented an opportunity to double the return on state dollars in transportation improvements.”
Sidetracks Identifying, planning and completing projects may seem like a cutand-dry process, but there’s nothing simple about building roads. Road projects go through rigorous proposal, planning and approval processes before funding discussions even begin. There are also property and right-of-way acquisitions, which can result in legal system involvement. Martin said planning large-scale projects can often illuminate the need for smaller, related projects. For example, while planning improvements to South Parkway, another project was added – a connector off Benaroya Lane, to help ease congestion during construction. – continued on page 16 apr 2021 initiatives
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