255 and Bradford Interchange

[padmaster]

very nice aerial photos of the ongoing construction on 255/Bradford/Old Madison Pike.
I do not know the person who took these photos but one of my friends shared it so I assume it is OK to share it here.

https://www.facebook.com/marty.selle...084137?__xts__[0]=68.ARAv3kTywOw2nt6gJtgb101iJYQXGMwzwloSq7I3d4CRrK OSaFKlMDGHIWnI9enTyb4W5SP7GD6C8JBtduRxUOsku-DUJAQtwRuFb33d14ZN_SgQmBUTmvDLevD1IGp9djGgkxKqjz9b 4r1ISox6uUPJeJnUovYhay-B0GAyg4McDB6aiXw1Dv7ho6X6gGmkgfV6ODTkijtKY31zym6mE cyksdODtcH-0uBT7Zr_EHSE7AwKFDtgZmKGO2lBJy1a49xeTXortaRXFjTnYd AgQAJIjbcAgSo_RLz2JHasLYYRATJQzaTeFf5GAttb2_NqXzki xy3uRpb37N8bEh5MjX_05w&__tn__=K-R

[sk8grd]

If you zoom in on the area of where Research and Bradford intersect you can see the road updates

https://maps.huntsvilleal.gov/public/

As of now they have all of the traffic entering at corporate drive / research drive just to the other side of the IRS building. I am kind of surprised they are dumping the traffic into this area and not more directly into the heart of Mid city.

Is the new amphitheater supposed to be north of the IRS building or where the movie theater is now?

[AU HSV]

Movie theater area

[Big Grumpy]

Originally Posted by sk8grd

Is the new amphitheater supposed to be north of the IRS building or where the movie theater is now?

South of the extended Sanderson Road in the empty square shown on the interactive map. Hopefully, that's not the final design of the new ramp into MidCity. If so, there was very little thought put into that. Hey, let's just dump in onto Corporate Drive and hope for the best.

[David1502]

Originally Posted by Big Grumpy

South of the extended Sanderson Road in the empty square shown on the interactive map. Hopefully, that's not the final design of the new ramp into MidCity. If so, there was very little thought put into that. Hey, let's just dump in onto Corporate Drive and hope for the best.

The reason that they show it dumping into Corporate Drive is that directly across the street will be a parking lot for the amphitheater. If you go on the Mid City District website, and select "Work", there is a link to the Leasing Brochure and the third page shows a drawing of the whole development. You will see the amphitheater, and diagonally across the street, the parking lot.


They expect that the only time there will be a large volume of traffic using the Mid City exit on Research Park Blvd. is when there is an event going on at the amphitheater, therefore, it would make sense to dump the cars into that parking lot.


Looking at that same drawing, the TARCOG (Top of Alabama Council of Governments) building on Corporate Drive sticks out like a sore thumb in the middle of the southern portion of Mid City. However, I can see why TARCOG doesn't want to sell and relocate - They are trying to be accessible to all of North Alabama and with quick access to AL 255 (RPB) and being little more than a mile from I-565, they could not be more easily accessed.


Speaking of parking, the same drawing shows a number of parking garages nearby in the southern portion of Mid City, I am curious as to how much the City of Huntsville will charge for parking (Huntsville will own the amphitheater) and how many of the garages they will use and charge during concerts, etc. To accommodate 7,500 attendees, it will take a lot of parking and the City will be looking for every means possible to pay back the cost of building such a large venue. They are already spending a lot on the addition to the Von Braun, so recovering the costs on both large venues will be a big priority.

[RocketDawg]

Originally Posted by David1502

The reason that they show it dumping into Corporate Drive is that directly across the street will be a parking lot for the amphitheater. If you go on the Mid City District website, and select "Work", there is a link to the Leasing Brochure and the third page shows a drawing of the whole development. You will see the amphitheater, and diagonally across the street, the parking lot.


They expect that the only time there will be a large volume of traffic using the Mid City exit on Research Park Blvd. is when there is an event going on at the amphitheater, therefore, it would make sense to dump the cars into that parking lot.


Looking at that same drawing, the TARCOG (Top of Alabama Council of Governments) building on Corporate Drive sticks out like a sore thumb in the middle of the southern portion of Mid City. However, I can see why TARCOG doesn't want to sell and relocate - They are trying to be accessible to all of North Alabama and with quick access to AL 255 (RPB) and being little more than a mile from I-565, they could not be more easily accessed.


Speaking of parking, the same drawing shows a number of parking garages nearby in the southern portion of Mid City, I am curious as to how much the City of Huntsville will charge for parking (Huntsville will own the amphitheater) and how many of the garages they will use and charge during concerts, etc. To accommodate 7,500 attendees, it will take a lot of parking and the City will be looking for every means possible to pay back the cost of building such a large venue. They are already spending a lot on the addition to the Von Braun, so recovering the costs on both large venues will be a big priority.

They're probably right about the only time there will be huge traffic surges will be during concerts, and presumably there will be no concerts during the winter.

Speaking of the VBC - parking there is a nightmare when there's more than one event, or even one major event in the arena. And they don't have enough handicapped parking.