Alabama

[bdmoss88]

I think this bad boy may be going away soon. We went through Montgomery yesterday and it looks like a new gantry is being constructed just before it.

https://goo.gl/maps/ni69KZLxoTu

[freebrickproductions]

I think this bad boy may be going away soon. We went through Montgomery yesterday and it looks like a new gantry is being constructed just before it.

https://goo.gl/maps/ni69KZLxoTu

Glad I got a picture of it on my way up from Florida earlier this month. Any signs of replacement for the button-copy on US 31 in the SW corner of the city?

[The Ghostbuster]

Will any more of the future Interstate 85 bypass of Montgomery be built anytime soon? Also, is future Interstate 422 between State Highway 75 and State Highway 79 completed yet?

[froggie]

No. And no.

(BTW, took only about a minute of Google searching to find both answers)

[formulanone]

This was the extent of I-422 construction as of last December:



This was just a ramp from AL 79, heading east.

[bigdave]

This was the extent of I-422 construction as of last December:

Looks like they are right on track to finish as scheduled in 2050. 

[bdmoss88]

One of the few remaining intersections in Auburn without mast arm traffic signals, Shug Jordan Pkwy and Wire Rd. is getting them. Looks like the 'Left Turn Yield on Green' is being replaced with 'Left Turn Yield on Flashing Yellow'. That looks like a yellow circle instead of an arrow though? If it's an arrow it sure isn't very pointy.Never mind, it's an arrow.

[Georgia]

I think this bad boy may be going away soon. We went through Montgomery yesterday and it looks like a new gantry is being constructed just before it.

https://goo.gl/maps/ni69KZLxoTu

went through MGM 3 weeks ago, it is gone.
new gantry and sign is just sooooo boring

[Tom958]

Is the new one an APL, or conventional?

[3467]

The Federal Register has published several  cancellations for projects in Alabama in the last few days.Among them a road from I 10 to Dolthan ,an extend of I 85 and  direct rout from Memphis to Atlanta. To me 22 to 20 seems direct.

[Interstate 69 Fan]

The Federal Register has published several  cancellations for projects in Alabama in the last few days.Among them a road from I 10 to Dolthan ,an extend of I 85 and  direct rout from Memphis to Atlanta. To me 22 to 20 seems direct.

You mean extended I-85?

[3467]

Yes

[froggie]

The Federal Register has published several  cancellations for projects in Alabama in the last few days.

Do you have a link or website you could share?

and  direct rout from Memphis to Atlanta.

This was the push from ~20 years ago for an Interstate along the US 72 corridor to around Huntsville, bypass south of Huntsville, then continue to Atlanta via Rome, GA.

Agree that 22 to 20 is more direct, though it would be nice if there were a way to thread through the coal ash and other polluted sites northeast of downtown Birmingham for a more direct connection between the two so one could avoid Malfunction Junction.

[bigdave]

The Federal Register has published several  cancellations for projects in Alabama in the last few days.Among them a road from I 10 to Dolthan ,an extend of I 85 and  direct rout from Memphis to Atlanta. To me 22 to 20 seems direct.

Here's a cancellation for the I-759 extension in Gadsden.

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/08/29/2018-18669/rescinding-the-notice-of-intent-for-an-environmental-impact-statement-gadsden-etowah-county-alabama

I-85 extension

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/08/29/2018-18670/rescinding-the-notice-of-intent-for-an-environmental-impact-statement-multiple-counties-alabama

MEM-HSV-ATL highway

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/08/29/2018-18668/rescinding-the-notice-of-intent-for-an-environmental-impact-statement-multiple-counties-alabama

Dothan to I-10:

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/08/28/2018-18666/rescinding-the-notice-of-intent-for-an-environmental-impact-statement-multiple-counties-alabama

HSV Southern bypass and Weatherly extension

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/08/28/2018-18665/rescinding-the-notice-of-intent-for-an-environmental-impact-statement-huntsville-madison-county

Road projects are born to noise and publicity and die a quiet death.

[sparker]

^^^^^
Interesting to note that the rationale cited for the recission of the Memphis-Huntsville-Atlanta corridor was the objections of the Redstone Arsenal regarding a facility adjacent to their site.  IIRC, that corridor would have overlaid I-565 through Huntsville; it runs along the north side of Redstone and has for decades; unless there was an alternate corridor path of which I'm unaware, that shouldn't have impinged any more on the arsenal than current facilities.  Just surprised they didn't simply cite lack of funding as the rationale as per the other recissions.

[3467]

I often check the Federal Register and it has not been very interesting until I saw all these Alabama revisions. I was curious why. Illinois has a bunch from that era but they only killed off a couple for local reasons. We have no money either but keep them on life support just in case we find some. I wondered why Alabama threw in the towel.

[3467]

Also wasn't that 85 extension also supposed to be I 14?
I wondered if they contracted the neighboring states.

[froggie]

Interesting to note that the rationale cited for the recission of the Memphis-Huntsville-Atlanta corridor was the objections of the Redstone Arsenal regarding a facility adjacent to their site.  IIRC, that corridor would have overlaid I-565 through Huntsville; it runs along the north side of Redstone and has for decades; unless there was an alternate corridor path of which I'm unaware, that shouldn't have impinged any more on the arsenal than current facilities.

A corridor right through the eastern side of Redstone was recommended, in part because of the cost and issues with bringing Memorial Dr fully up to Interstate standards.  Then 9/11 happened and the Army went on record by 2009 in opposing a route through Redstone due to security concerns.  It also didn't help promoters that interest from Mississippi and Georgia waned.

[sparker]

I often check the Federal Register and it has not been very interesting until I saw all these Alabama revisions. I was curious why. Illinois has a bunch from that era but they only killed off a couple for local reasons. We have no money either but keep them on life support just in case we find some. I wondered why Alabama threw in the towel.

They probably blew their wad on I-22; after that project's completion, along with the present Birmingham revamp, they couldn't even find the funds for the Montgomery bypass, leaving it a stub from I-85.  Besides (and not to get too political here) the current crowd running the state is exceptionally tax-averse; the prospects for raising funds in-state are dim indeed.  At this point ALDOT likely decided that keeping a lot of future projects -- that were just going to be kicked down the road in any case -- on the books wasn't reasonable. 

Also wasn't that 85 extension also supposed to be I 14?
I wondered if they contracted the neighboring states.

That particular I-14 iteration, essentially following the old I-85 western extension, was only recently revived by a UGA student; unless he and his buddies have the gift of gab to the point of convincing AL interests to not only revive that extension but add new mileage from I-85 east to Columbus, GA, that concept is dead in the water.  Except for that particular effort, there seems to be just no interest in extending I-14 east of Laurel, MS.  And it's probably a certainty that ALDOT did contact GA, FL, and MS regarding their decision to not pursue any of the corridors in the recission list; at this point the reaction was likely no more than a shrug of the shoulders; MS twinned US 72 several years ago and seemingly has no upgrades planned for that route, while the GA segment through Rome has been improved in bits and pieces as bypasses of that town along with an expressway connection to I-75; hardly a massive undertaking.  And FL, while in the past interested in an improved connection from I-10 to the Panama City area, never seemed too enthralled with a Dothan (AL) connection as an extension of that concept. 

For the time being, the new-Interstate era within AL began and ended with I-22 (and maybe its children somewhere down the line).         

[freebrickproductions]

Almost wonder if some of these project cancellations are to try and clear out some spaces in ALDOT's project list to try and get other (slightly more immediately important, at least regionally) projects pushed up, such as widening I-565 between Madison and I-65.

[sparker]

Almost wonder if some of these project cancellations are to try and clear out some spaces in ALDOT's project list to try and get other (slightly more immediately important, at least regionally) projects pushed up, such as widening I-565 between Madison and I-65.

More likely it's just the fact that massive levels of federal funding are no longer available for AL to utilize for freeway projects.  Just look at what's out there statewide:  there's only a few "spot" limited-access projects (US 31/280 in Birmingham, the two Huntsville N-S corridors, and less than 10 total miles of anything else) that weren't either part of the original/chargeable Interstate system or built with "Corridor X" funds.  Absent the ability to avail itself of these now-exhausted funds, not much is going to be built in this state.       

[roadwarrior]

Any word on the Mobile River Bridge project?  plan to fix the I 10 Wallace Tunnel traffic jam? 

[roadwarrior]

More likely it's just the fact that massive levels of federal funding are no longer available for AL to utilize for freeway projects.  Just look at what's out there statewide:  there's only a few "spot" limited-access projects (US 31/280 in Birmingham, the two Huntsville N-S corridors, and less than 10 total miles of anything else) that weren't either part of the original/chargeable Interstate system or built with "Corridor X" funds.  Absent the ability to avail itself of these now-exhausted funds, not much is going to be built in this state.       
[/quote]

Look at the state as a whole.  Low standard of living; many working on week to week salaries.  (relatively) Low growth rates.  Population shrinking.  State likely to lose reps in next census.  And perhaps the most important problem:  Alabamians aren't willing to push an issue that ends up not happening.  They're passive pushovers. 

[freebrickproductions]

Population shrinking.  State likely to lose reps in next census. 

We're still growing population-wise as of the 2017 estimate (likely thanks to Huntsville and the Birmingham Metro), but it has been slowing (likely due urbanization drawing people out of the various towns and small cities across the state):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alabama#Demographics

[roadwarrior]

Population shrinking.  State likely to lose reps in next census. 

We're still growing population-wise as of the 2017 estimate (likely thanks to Huntsville and the Birmingham Metro), but it has been slowing (likely due urbanization drawing people out of the various towns and small cities across the state):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alabama#Demographics

Well, that's why before typing "population shrinking" I put "(relatively) low growth rates".  I live in the Mobile/Baldwin area and it's always growing down here as well but when you really look at it and compare it to other places its pretty slow (should be at least twice as much).  And the truth is it's all a result of culture.  Most of the groupthink involves small town culture and it wears on people and pushes them out.  The people of the state have a tendency to strongly oppose growth.