Crossroads of Absurdity (Birmingham, Montgomery, Mobile: real estate, contractor, inspector)

[Colin24816]

The other issue all city and county governments is maintaining the roads they have. That can take up a decent amount of the available funds and without maintenance, the roads start falling apart due to wear and tear from the traffic. Lastly, most of the roads around here were farm road built back in the '30's to the '50's. Basically, build the road structure with material in the immediate area and the dirt or muck where the ditches needed to be was used in the roadbed itself and paved with a chip seal surface that was reapplied when that layer wore out and finally got an asphalt wear surface that was around 1" thick. This road will not hold up to the volume of dump trucks and concrete mixes going back and forth all day long. For what it is worth, most dump truck you see have a single axle up front, a tandem axle (2) in back and a lift axle in front of the tandem. These trucks are rated for a gross vehicle weight of 82,500 pounds or 41.25 tons. How many bridges do you see with weight limits lower than 40 tons?

[HSVAeroEngineer]

Originally Posted by Colin24816

The other issue all city and county governments is maintaining the roads they have. That can take up a decent amount of the available funds and without maintenance, the roads start falling apart due to wear and tear from the traffic. Lastly, most of the roads around here were farm road built back in the '30's to the '50's.

I am surprised nothing has been done in 70 years. Did they expect the population to remain the same forever?

I just moved into my new place and traffic near University Dr and Enterprise Way is already very annoying- they are building a brand new luxury apartment complex near The Collins, so things will only get worse.

[dwhisent]

Originally Posted by HSVAeroEngineer

I am surprised nothing has been done in 70 years. Did they expect the population to remain the same forever?

That's a very unfair statement. You have not been here for 70 years, and I have only been here 50 or so. I have watched Madison explode from a tiny place, mostly cotton fields, where the police department was where the little restaurant is on Main street, using the county school system, to a city bursting at its seams, in what seems like a few years. There was no way they could keep up. But I have watched Hughes road get widened and widened again, with the extension built over the RR tracks to provide a new outlet to Hwy 20. I have seen County Line Road go from a 2-lane to what it is today. 565 was not even an idea when I moved here. Progress has been slower than I would like, but you have to have money. The growth gave some money, but the infrastructure lagged it, which makes sense. And of course you have the fact that ALDOnT ignores the North Alabama area, which says a lot of the money we do get from taxes flows out of our area.

Do we wish it was better/faster? Of course! Is better planning needed? Absolutely! But saying NOTHING has been done is just wrong, because you only have a snapshot of the last few months versus what we long-timers have watched happen.

[HSVAeroEngineer]

Originally Posted by dwhisent

Do we wish it was better/faster? Of course! Is better planning needed? Absolutely! But saying NOTHING has been done is just wrong, because you only have a snapshot of the last few months versus what we long-timers have watched happen.

I appreciate the History lesson. However if what was done does not even scratch the surface, how is that helpful?

Sometimes I can be condescending but the more I find out about Madison- the more I realize that what we have here is a time bomb and all I have heard so far is nonsense talk- "I think they have a plan"- Obviously they dont.

I am very concerned for this area- I read a statistic yesterday that blew my mind- they will need 30,000 new home lots to accomodate all the people that will be moving to the Huntsville area in the next few years- this is insanity!

[Suesbal]

Originally Posted by HSVAeroEngineer

Best way I can describe those crossroads near the Toney Post Office. Whoever designed that is totally void of any intelligence or common sense.

It is hard to stay hopeful but yesterday, it finally dawned on me that Madison will have to widen every single North-South road and it will have to be done fast- it really shows a total lack of forethought and the ability I have to see these things decades ahead of the local population

Have you been down to the crossroads and fell down on your knees?

[DubbleT]

Originally Posted by HSVAeroEngineer

it really shows a total lack of forethought

Kinda like when someone moves to a new area but doesn't check out the neighborhood traffic beforehand and then complains about it?

Originally Posted by HSVAeroEngineer

and the ability I have to see these things decades ahead of the local population

Originally Posted by HSVAeroEngineer

I just moved into my new place and traffic near University Dr and Enterprise Way is already very annoying- they are building a brand new luxury apartment complex near The Collins, so things will only get worse.

Guess that ability is only for the long range huh? Apparently it didn't serve you too well when you moved into your current abode? Forethought and planning?

[HSVAeroEngineer]

Originally Posted by DubbleT

Kinda like when someone moves to a new area but doesn't check out the neighborhood traffic beforehand and then complains about it?
Guess that ability is only for the long range huh? Apparently it didn't serve you too well when you moved into your current abode? Forethought and planning?

Actually, I moved to The Collins because that was rated the best apartment complex in Alabama.

Everything else that I saw was of inferior or subpar quality so I did not have a choice.

That being said, absolutely fantastic place- I hope developers take The Collins as a "role model" community and try to replicate that concept of living.

[RocketDawg]

Originally Posted by HSVAeroEngineer

Actually, I moved to The Collins because that was rated the best apartment complex in Alabama.

Everything else that I saw was of inferior or subpar quality so I did not have a choice.

That being said, absolutely fantastic place- I hope developers take The Collins as a "role model" community and try to replicate that concept of living.

The Collins is definitely a nice place to live (regardless of what used to be Rime Village across the street ), but the area where The Collins is, is scheduled (already being done) for agressive development. Couple that with MidCity across Research Park Blvd and that area will be a nightmare. I've heard no talk of improving the semi-cloverleaf interchange (a pretty much outdated concept) at Hwy 72 either. MidCity has several hotels, several large apartment and condo complexes, and a ton of retail. So imagine how it will be in a couple of years. Plus, two or three miles south is Redstone Gateway, building more and more each day. So you're right - the area will be gridlocked soon, sooner rather than later.

Perhaps you could use your influence to lobby with ALDOT to at least look at this area. Almost $500M is earmarked for a northern bypass around Birmingham called I-422. It's totally not needed.

Perhaps looking at how Austin has handled meteoric growth over the last 20 years will help. They're much larger than this area, but for how long? They're now planning a 20-lane freeway thru town. That city has only one Interstate, but we have none in reality.

Maybe it's the exodus from California?

[HSVAeroEngineer]

Originally Posted by RocketDawg

The Collins is definitely a nice place to live (regardless of what used to be Rime Village across the street ), but the area where The Collins is, is scheduled (already being done) for agressive development. Couple that with MidCity across Research Park Blvd and that area will be a nightmare. I've heard no talk of improving the semi-cloverleaf interchange (a pretty much outdated concept) at Hwy 72 either. MidCity has several hotels, several large apartment and condo complexes, and a ton of retail. So imagine how it will be in a couple of years. Plus, two or three miles south is Redstone Gateway, building more and more each day. So you're right - the area will be gridlocked soon, sooner rather than later.

Perhaps you could use your influence to lobby with ALDOT to at least look at this area. Almost $500M is earmarked for a northern bypass around Birmingham called I-422. It's totally not needed.

Perhaps looking at how Austin has handled meteoric growth over the last 20 years will help. They're much larger than this area, but for how long? They're now planning a 20-lane freeway thru town. That city has only one Interstate, but we have none in reality.

Maybe it's the exodus from California?

People from CA come into a new area- they dont ask questions, they demand things.

I have seen this in Utah, Idaho, Arizona and Nevada. As much as I detest CA Liberal politics, their mindset is correct in a lot of ways.

I used to go to an upscale grocery store in Reno and the same exact one in Truckee, CA across the border- the difference was night and day.

People from CA have high standards- I just wish they left their politics at home.

[Colin24816]

Originally Posted by HSVAeroEngineer

I appreciate the History lesson. However if what was done does not even scratch the surface, how is that helpful?

Sometimes I can be condescending but the more I find out about Madison- the more I realize that what we have here is a time bomb and all I have heard so far is nonsense talk- "I think they have a plan"- Obviously they dont.

I am very concerned for this area- I read a statistic yesterday that blew my mind- they will need 30,000 new home lots to accomodate all the people that will be moving to the Huntsville area in the next few years- this is insanity!

The last sentence explains a lot about why the roads are like they are. Also saying they don't have a plan does not mean they don't. You don't know that.




I have tried to explain to you why the roads are like they are and why nothing seems to be getting done to them. It is called insufficient tax revenue that is needed to pay for all of the road improvements you want to see happen immediately. That is not going to happen. Road work is a long process and can take several years for one road to get fully widened out. This involves designing the project, buying the needed right of way, letting the project and getting it built. Some land owners don't want to sell their property and ALDOT or the cities have to go through court proceedings to obtain the property. The judge may side with the land owner and ALDOT or the city will have to pay the cost the judge decides. On the flip side, the judge could go the other way and the land owner has to sell the land at the offered price. This may take several months by itself.

Prior to the start of construction, utilities need to be moved out of the way. If the utility moves them before any planned roadwork is even mentioned, they pay for it themselves. If ALDOT require the utilities to be moved, ALDOT pays the utility for the work. This work can take several weeks or months depending on what utilities are having to be moved. Some may have to be moved before the next utility can move theirs.

Once the right of way has been purchased and the utilities moved, the contract is let and awarded after a review to make sure everything is acceptable. After that, the contractor will receive a "Notice to Proceed" with a date the contractor can start work.

Lastly, expecting multiple road projects to be under construction in a relatively small area will create total chaos because there are no other routes to get you around the road work.


For what it is worth, I worked for ALDOT for over 34 years as an inspector on road construction projects. Most were resurfacing projects but I did work on several "Grade and Drain" projects as well.