Huntsville Highways and Roads

[codyg1985]

Only one project in the area will be bid on this month: Repaving US 72 East from the Flint River to Woodville. Granted, it's needed, but I think there are more pressing issues than a $5 million paving project.

Meanwhile, the town of Cherokee in Colbert County (population 1200) is getting an interchange! Obviously a very "urgent" project- they must be getting 60,000 people in the next 5 years too...

[predatorsfan07]

Only one project in the area will be bid on this month: Repaving US 72 East from the Flint River to Woodville. Granted, it's needed, but I think there are more pressing issues than a $5 million paving project.

Meanwhile, the town of Cherokee in Colbert County (population 1200) is getting an interchange! Obviously a very "urgent" project- they must be getting 60,000 people in the next 5 years too...

[Huntsville_secede]

Hey man. lol First off from the Shoals. Second Cherokee might 600 people at most. Third The interchange in Barton (not Cherokee) was established as part of the deal to get National Alabama boxcar plant to locate here. I'm sure most people are unaware of the lack of good paying jobs in my area (our unemployment rates are low, but most people around here work in the service industry, and struggle to make it by on a little more than minimum wage). When the people of the Shoals went out and voted to increase our sales taxes to get companies to locate here, it was out of desparation. The state had little to do with the planning of the interchange, other than it was a necessity to get the plant to locate here. Also, the Shoals area is the second largest metro area in North Alabama, and has been shafted for decades when it comes to road construction/projects. We have lost countless potential employers due to the fact that the nearest interstate is 60 miles away in Decatur/Athens... So before people start complaining about the interchange being built, take into consideration what we don't have, and compare it to all that the cities along and east of I-65 do have. Just my two cents

[deesonic]

I've lived in SW Huntsville off and on for more than half of my thirty some odd years and I've always wondered why Triana Blvd has never been extended south to Martin Road or maybe even better, Weatherly Road. I think it would certainly be a boon to development in this part of town and would take a lot of traffic off of South Memorial Parkway. I think about this everytime I drive to my friends' house off of Weatherly. Man, if I could just cruise Triana up to Weatherly without hitting the Parkway...

I know that some of the property along the route if it went all the way to Weatherly is federal proberty (RSA). But I really can't see why Triana couldn't at least extend to Martin. I mean, you can literally see Martin Road from the end of Triana. And Weatherly is not more than another couple miles or so.

I've only been back in Huntsville for a couple years after being gone for about 10 years. Since I've been back I don't think I have ever heard this idea mentioned on any forums or by city leaders. Maybe I'm wrong. Does anyone know if this has ever been proposed?

[jmanhsv]

Here's your reason: The Southern Bypass. The proposed route's going right in between Triana and Martin. It would seem like a good idea to just extend the Triana down to the bypass and build an exit, except that it would be too close to the proposed interchanges at Patton and Martin Roads. It just wouldn't be feasible to build three interchanges so close together in such a sparsely populated area.

[deesonic]

Between Triana and Martin? I thought the bypass was going much further south than that. Do you have a link to that proposed route? It would seem that Rideout (assuming it's part of the bypass) would have to wrap around the southern edge of that mountain on RSA and actually loop back north in order to get between Triana and Martin. So I don't understand why, except for budget issues, that bypass would interfere with extending Triana to Martin and even Weatherly. There's no need for another interchange, just an overpass maybe. There's no interchange at Triana and 565 for that matter. And yes it is sparsely populated through there. I would argue that would change it S. Mem Pkwy were linked to Triana.

At some point a year or two ago there was talk of a new subdivision near Triana in the fields behind McDonnell Elementary adjacent to RSA.

http://www.huntsvillealabamausa.com/news/b...11807_homes.htm

Whatever became of that? There's potential for more growth in that area if there were a southerly route to South Parkway without having to backtrack up to Johnson. Such a link would also provide faster access to RSA through the Martin Road gate. Yet another reason the extension would promote growth in SW Huntsville.

[deesonic]

OK. Right after my last post I did find a link with the map here: http://www.tollroadsnews.com/node/3116 It's sorta difficult to read, but it does not appear that the bypass is going between Triana and Martin. It appears that Triana, if extended, would link up at about where Martin and the bypass would meet. There could be an interchange to serve both Martin and Triana there similar to what we have at 565/Sparkman/Bob Wallace. There would be no need for extension to Weatherly clearly with this bypass route though. Anyway, it sure would be nice for SW Huntsville to have bypass access via Triana/Martin for promotion of development and growth.

[internerdj]

Anyone know why they are repaving Chapman Mountain again so soon?

[jmanhsv]

^Because people are still sliding off the mountain every time it rains. That curve needed pavement with better traction. It also needs less stupid drivers...

Speaking of Chapman Mountain, looks like they have a traffic camera set up at Moores Mill and 72 now, so that should be online soon.

[Huntsville_secede]

Schools, roads top city's wish list

Monday, January 12, 2009

By CHALLEN STEPHENS

Times Staff Writer [email protected]

Mayor calls local needs state's 'most significant'

Practiced at winning federal dollars, Huntsville has put together Alabama's lengthiest and most detailed federal shopping list.

From new bus route maps to parkway overpasses, Huntsville names 100 projects it hopes to see paid for by the economic stimulus package proposed by President-elect Barack Obama.

Huntsville's big-ticket requests include $45 million for Lee High, $53 million for overpasses on South Memorial Parkway, $40 million for three downtown parking garages, $50 million to make schools energy efficient, and $50 million to improve the roads on Redstone Arsenal.

The city's entire wish list runs $566 million. That's five times more than the combined requests of Birmingham, Auburn and Tuscaloosa.

http://www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/loc....xml&coll=1