Huntsville

[freebrickproductions]

The new Exit 10 on I-565 in Madison, AL, has finally been fully completed and opened as of today.

The ramps to/from I-565 eastbound were completed and opened a few years back, but the flyovers for the ramps to/from I-565 westbound were finally completed just recently. Now we've just got to wait for the widening between Exits 7 and 9 to be finished.

[formulanone]

Now we've just got to wait for the widening between Exits 7 and 9 to be finished.

The construction highlights one of my first-world pet peeves: temporarily moving the lane over just exactly enough that one of your wheel tracks can't keep steady because the lanes are uneven, due to milling away the road surface where the stripes had been located.

[Avalanchez71]

https://www.al.com/news/huntsville/index.ssf/2018/05/i-565_widening_project_on_fast.html

I-565 widening project on 'fast track,' ALDOT says

The Alabama Department of Transportation on Thursday said that widening I-565 in Huntsville is a "high priority project for us," echoing comments Gov. Kay Ivey made Wednesday.

Planning documents on the ALDOT website indicating that the I-565 project won't see new construction until 2043 are "outdated," spokesman Tony Harris said in an interview with AL.com. He also said work on the highway is "fast tracking."

"We have consultants actively engaged, working on that project right now," Harris said.

Harris, however, said he could not put an estimated date on when construction might begin on what's been described as a $100 million project.

The perspective from ALDOT came a day after the issue of widening I-565 became a political flashpoint at a ribbon cutting for GE Aviation in Huntsville.

At the end of his brief remarks at the ribbon cutting, Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle - challenging Ivey for the Republican gubernatorial nomination on June 5 - called out to state Sen. Arthur Orr seated in the audience about the need to expand I-565.

Orr, whose district includes the critical area of I-565 that officials agree needs widening, is also a member of the state General Fund committee and considered one of the most influential lawmakers in Montgomery.

After Battle concluded his speech, Ivey returned to the podium unprompted to reiterate her statement made during a speech in Huntsville last month that the interstate spur from I-65 into Huntsville is a "high priority" for her.

According to Harris, I-565 is getting attention.

"I know that work is now physically underway and is the first step to having plans that we can begin building from," he said.

But projects such as widening the federal highway are tedious exercises, Harris said. While it's basically stipulated that I-565 needs additional lanes to accommodate what's already a traffic bottleneck before the Mazda Toyota Manufacturing USA facility brings about 10,000 direct and indirect jobs to the area, there is more to be done than simply adding lanes, Harris said.

While I-565 expands to five lanes of traffic both east and westbound as it approaches downtown Huntsville, the highway shrinks to two lanes in each direction between Huntsville International Airport and I-65. That stretch of roadway connects a handful of manufacturing facilities such as Mazda Toyota, Polaris, GE Aviation and BOCAR with the rest of the automotive world.

He pointed to the I-565 interchange on I-65 as needing study to assess how it can handle additional lanes of traffic. There are also environmental issues in the I-565 area that will need attention as well, Harris said.

"We've got to identify to what extent improvement s are needed where I-565 connects to I-65," he said. "And what impact additional lanes will have on that entire corridor in terms of other improvements that might be needed at other interchanges. And there is at least some of that area where some detailed environmental studies will be required.

"That work is all fast tracking, ramping up and we will prosecute that work as fast as the department can."

Harris said ALDOT is aware of the growing industry presence on the I-565 corridor and the need for expansion.

"That area is seeing tremendous growth and the state recognizes the need to respond to that," he said.

Sounds like we might be getting some good news...

All widening does is allow more people to use the highway and clog it up even more.  It doesn't solve problems, it causes more.

[formulanone]

All widening does is allow more people to use the highway and clog it up even more.  It doesn't solve problems, it causes more.

Wow, never heard the induced demand excuse used before by someone named for a pickup truck. It's such a broken fallacy because while one part might be true, following it does nothing to help the situation. There's no serious long range plans to widen everything all at once, because that doesn't exist...anywhere.

Tell me you've driven on the arterials and side roads during rush hours in Huntsville without telling me you've never driven here during rush hours. Those roads are already clogged up and nobody plans to widen them, either. Have you noticed the glacial pace of road widening here at all?

[Avalanchez71]

I spend time in Huntsville at least one day every other month.

[freebrickproductions]

The city (and ideally the general metro area(s) if not the state) do need to invest in alternative forms of transportation, but I-565 still absolutely needed the widening. Before the section between I-65 and County Line Road was widened, I-565 was pretty much a bumper to bumper crawl all the way from Exit 13 to I-65.

Unfortunately, Alabama does not invest state funding in mass transit, though I know the city is looking at improving its bus network and maybe even expanding that to light or commuter rail in the future.

[ElishaGOtis]

The city (and ideally the general metro area(s) if not the state) do need to invest in alternative forms of transportation, but I-565 still absolutely needed the widening. Before the section between I-65 and County Line Road was widened, I-565 was pretty much a bumper to bumper crawl all the way from Exit 13 to I-65.

Unfortunately, Alabama does not invest state funding in mass transit, though I know the city is looking at improving its bus network and maybe even expanding that to light or commuter rail in the future.

Amtrak has entered the chat

[freebrickproductions]

The city (and ideally the general metro area(s) if not the state) do need to invest in alternative forms of transportation, but I-565 still absolutely needed the widening. Before the section between I-65 and County Line Road was widened, I-565 was pretty much a bumper to bumper crawl all the way from Exit 13 to I-65.

Unfortunately, Alabama does not invest state funding in mass transit, though I know the city is looking at improving its bus network and maybe even expanding that to light or commuter rail in the future.

Amtrak has entered the chat

I know city leaders have previously expressed interest in having Amtrak come to Huntsville, though I don't know if there's enough political will in this region for Amtrak to come here.