Huntsville/Madison Development News (Redstone Arsenal, Edgewater: general contractor, inspection, clubhouse)

[dave4AL]

This is great news. I am fairly sure this is Facebook and consistent with their other announcements in GA, OH and elsewhere. Between this and the Google center in Jackson County I hope this continues to brand the city positively and ideally creates a cluster of these things similar to what they have in Northern Virginia.

[MisterEd51]

Originally Posted by RocketDawg

A new $750M high tech data center is coming to Huntsville. It will be on a large plot in north Huntsville, I think in the same industrial park as the Toyota engine plant. It'll only have 50 new jobs, but they will be "high paying", averaging about $80K.

https://www.al.com/news/huntsville/i...million_h.html

Note that the data center will be next to the new plant by Aerojet Rocketdyne which will be employing 700 and also averaging $80K. It looks like Huntsville's investment in the North Huntsville Industrial Park is really paying off.

Aerojet Rocketdyne to bring 700 jobs to Huntsville, make $27 million investment

[Teko03]

Zierdt Road Update

-Southbound plans are 90% complete.
-Right of Way acquisition is complete.
-30 months for construction of the final phase (southbound lanes, multi-use path, 7-lane intersection at Martin Rd, and 6-lane intersection at Madison Blvd)
-Construction scheduled to begin in Fall 2018 (last Fall this date was estimated to be April 2018, then May, then June --- so don't be surprised if its pushed back again).
-Estimated completion is now 2021.

[Big Grumpy]

Originally Posted by Teko03

Zierdt Road Update

-Southbound plans are 90% complete.
-Right of Way acquisition is complete.
-30 months for construction of the final phase (southbound lanes, multi-use path, 7-lane intersection at Martin Rd, and 6-lane intersection at Madison Blvd)
-Construction scheduled to begin in Fall 2018 (last Fall this date was estimated to be April 2018, then May, then June --- so don't be surprised if its pushed back again).
-Estimated completion is now 2021.

Hard to fathom that a project that involves 3.6 miles of roadway with no real significant engineering or construction challenges will take the Battle administration three full terms plus another half year to complete. It'll also cost taxpayers $15 million more than what was originally budgeted ($11-12 million vs $28 million).

[RocketDawg]

Originally Posted by Teko03

Zierdt Road Update

-Southbound plans are 90% complete.
-Right of Way acquisition is complete.
-30 months for construction of the final phase (southbound lanes, multi-use path, 7-lane intersection at Martin Rd, and 6-lane intersection at Madison Blvd)
-Construction scheduled to begin in Fall 2018 (last Fall this date was estimated to be April 2018, then May, then June --- so don't be surprised if its pushed back again).
-Estimated completion is now 2021.

The published schedules are totally useless, based on history. The road should have been completed in about a year, and it's taken what ... 10 or so so far?

It's absolutely amazing that they apparently waited on the northbound lanes to be finished (they've sat there, finished, for 2 or 3 years, unused) before they started on right-of-way acquisition for the southbound side. And we criticize AlDot ....

[AU HSV]

Originally Posted by Big Grumpy

Hard to fathom that a project that involves 3.6 miles of roadway with no real significant engineering or construction challenges will take the Battle administration three full terms plus another half year to complete. It'll also cost taxpayers $15 million more than what was originally budgeted ($11-12 million vs $28 million).

well its not just the City of Huntsville involved. From Huntsville City Blog
The Zierdt Road project has been an ambitious undertaking involving the City of Huntsville, City of Madison, Madison County, Redstone Arsenal and the State of Alabama. Federal funds are covering 80 percent of the $25 million dollar price tag, with the City of Huntsville paying 15 percent of the cost and the City of Madison chipping in five percent.
City officials heard an overwhelming desire for a multi-use path for bikes and walking and for improved intersection function. The City agreed and worked to incorporate public wishes into the design. Obtaining the land for a 12-foot path and improved intersections has required the purchase of additional right-of-way, and the State of Alabama has been tasked with acquiring the needed land, which I believe has been completed.

[dijkstra]

From what I have heard over the past few years, it is the bike path that is causing most of the delays. So the question is, what is more important to the residents that live out there, a roadway to get to and from work, school and shopping or a path to ride a bicycle on? The road would have been completed years ago if it was not for the bike path being added.

[Big Grumpy]

Originally Posted by AU HSV

well its not just the City of Huntsville involved. From Huntsville City Blog
The Zierdt Road project has been an ambitious undertaking involving the City of Huntsville, City of Madison, Madison County, Redstone Arsenal and the State of Alabama. Federal funds are covering 80 percent of the $25 million dollar price tag, with the City of Huntsville paying 15 percent of the cost and the City of Madison chipping in five percent.
City officials heard an overwhelming desire for a multi-use path for bikes and walking and for improved intersection function. The City agreed and worked to incorporate public wishes into the design. Obtaining the land for a 12-foot path and improved intersections has required the purchase of additional right-of-way, and the State of Alabama has been tasked with acquiring the needed land, which I believe has been completed.

It's nice that someone put all of that on the city's webpage, but the City of Huntsville has had the lead and been responsible for this project since Loretta Spencer's last year in office. The City of Madison and the Madison County Commission have had little to no involvement in the project other than cost sharing (primarily Madison covering their portion for the stretch from Edgewater Drive to Madison Blvd). If you doubt that claim, go check out pages 24-28 of the Huntsville MPO's March 2018 meeting minutes on the MPO website. Redstone has only been involved to the extent that they negotiated a ROW leasing agreement with the city for 100+ acres along the western boundary of the Arsenal from just south of Martin Road to Madison Blvd.

The referendum/outcry for the bike path came from about 50 or so people that attended the first public information meeting way back in November 2007. Following that meeting the city went back and re-planned the project to include a multi-use path on the western side of the road. This newer design was socialized to the public at a second informational meeting in September 2011. Work started in the fall of 2012 and abruptly stopped in early 2013. And here we sit five plus years later and the city still hasn't started work on the southbound lanes or multi-use path and just recently finished acquiring the needed ROW in the past two months.

[Big Grumpy]

Originally Posted by dijkstra

From what I have heard over the past few years, it is the bike path that is causing most of the delays. So the question is, what is more important to the residents that live out there, a roadway to get to and from work, school and shopping or a path to ride a bicycle on? The road would have been completed years ago if it was not for the bike path being added.

You could probably blame the multi-use path since it's primarily what drove the need for additional ROW outside of the two major intersections. I would suggest though that that's not the only reason for this project getting delayed again and again. The main issue was the decision to stage the construction such that the multi-use path, southbound lanes, and intersections were all to be worked on simultaneously. Had they separated out the multi-use path, they could have already completed the southbound lanes and had them open or opening soon. As it stands now the thirty-month construction clock isn't even going to start until November or December (which will coincidentally be the three year anniversary of the completion of the northbound lanes). Another issue has been the diverting of funds from the project to other projects despite they city saying that wasn't going to happen.

[RocketDawg]

I suppose it's easy and convenient to blame the bike path, but I seriously doubt that's the real reason.

I drive Zierdt Rd daily since I live in Edgewater. Personally, I couldn't care less about having the bike path. Bikes on Zierdt Rd. have been a problem in the past though, holding up traffic during rush hours. And yes, I consider it a problem and not a right of those who choose to ride bikes on roads that otherwise would be moving traffic at a decent pace. And it's dangerous for a biker who's dumb enough to be riding there during rush, or at night.