What's rush hour like from Owens Cross rds to Redstone? (Birmingham: home, school)

[Ben 'n Jen]

Alabama native considering coming back home if the job negotiations pan out. I'm curious what the commute from Hampton/Owens Cross rds to the arsenal is like during rush hour.

thanks
Ben

[Dustin Wehut]

It is like any other hour of the day. Very easy drive. Other than Madison, there is not a rush hour to speak of.

Roll Tide

[Shirley B.]

Welcome home. Unless it is bad weather or a wreck the traffic moves steady, beautiful view going over the mountain.

[TUMF]

Gate 9 is always a hold up in the morning... and outbound on Rideout is a pain in the evening...

[AU HSV]

Originally Posted by Tumf

Gate 9 is always a hold up in the morning... and outbound on Rideout is a pain in the evening...

then try a different gate, 8 or 10 is smooth sailing

[ram09]

I make this commute everyday using Cecil Ashburn & 4 Mile Post to Gate 1 around 8 am. Normally, there is a 3 - 7 minute backup at Gate 1. Except during school breaks, Sutton Road is often slow, although not horrible. Once you start up Huntsville Mountain on Cecil Ashburn, it is OK. I would count on the commute from 431 & Sutton to the Sparkman Building on the Arsenal to be 30 minutes or less. Gate 9, which I occasionally use, seems consistently worse than Gate 1.

[Ben 'n Jen]

Thanks ya'll. To compare, I commute 23 miles in DC every morning. No public transportation goes to my building, so I've been driving it every day for 5 years. Some days it can be only 50 mins. Most days it's 1 hr 10 mins. Bad days it's 2 hrs.

Anxious to come home. Most of my family is from Dutton/Section/Henegar and I grew up in the Pinson/Center Point area.

[LCTMadison]

Center Point?

I went to Erwin my freshman and sophmore years...back in the day when CP wasn't what it is now! I learned to drive on the Erwin hills Its sad to see what has happened to it. My mom fled several years ago and moved to Trussville. I had a lot of friends at Pinson that I went to church with.

People will complain about traffic all day long here, but it is NOTHING compared to NOVA or even Bham. I've been in Bham the past few days and was ready to scream having to sit in stand still traffic and deal with all those people...and I left BEFORE the President arrived yesterday.

At most its going to take you 30 minutes to get from the arsenal to OXR. My friend in Hampton Cove says it takes her 20 minutes on an average day to get to work. One thing to take note of is winter weather. We don't deal with it very well here as you are probably accustomed to, being from Bham. When the roads ice you can forget coming over the mountain into HSV, as they get quite treacherous.

[rock90]

Originally Posted by LCTMadison

People will complain about traffic all day long here, but it is NOTHING compared to NOVA or even Bham. I've been in Bham the past few days and was ready to scream having to sit in stand still traffic and deal with all those people...and I left BEFORE the President arrived yesterday.

I've heard visitors say how "cute" our traffic jams are, compared to larger cities. Birmingham is annoying because some of the main arteries don't allow for alternatives, due to the mountains. If I-65 is at a standstill there and you need to drive Huntsville-to-Montgomery, you're gonna have a bad time. Even in Atlanta I can often improvise on side roads to get around an interstate jam.

[Ben 'n Jen]

Erwin class of 89. Left Alabama in 1993. Been gone way too long.

Fingers crossed that my new opportunity pans out and we get to come home. It's all up to the company at this point, but we feel pretty good about it.

Ben