The goal is to see individual neighborhoods thriving as part of a much larger landscape.

That’s how Mayor Tommy Battle envisions Huntsville, already the largest city in the state, as the metro area continues to grow in population and expand commercially.

As part of a plan for infrastructure, Battle and his administration introduced what they called the BIG Picture in 2018. That master plan has been fluid and continues to change as needed with the city adding roughly 4,500 residents a year.

Huntsville’s population was around 185,000 during Battle’s first term in 2010. It’s now in the 225,000-227,000 range.

“We’ve added infrastructure as we needed to do it,’’ Battle said. “We’ve added parks, we’ve added greenways, we’ve added events space – everything from Double-A baseball to now we’re looking at minor league soccer, to an amphitheater.

“We’re adding things to make this place have an identity. That identity is something that is very important to us and we’re going to keep that identity as a city called Huntsville. It’ll change. That’s why we do a Big Picture, that’s why we do an update on the Big Picture.’’

The gatekeeper of the master plan is Dennis Madsen, the city’s Manager of Long-Range and Urban Planning. Madsen, who came to the city from Atlanta in 2013, oversees the comprehensive plan that is designed “to help direct the future of economic growth, neighborhood redevelopment, parks and greenways, transportation, and quality of life,’’ according to www.bigpicturehuntsville.com.

“One of the important things to recognize is that for almost half of the life of the plan itself we have been under some sort of Covid restriction,’’ Madsen said. “That has really hurt and caused limitations and our ability to get things done.

“Greenway construction, sidewalk construction, those are some of the things we can really ramp up as we come out of Covid. We want to continue to keep up the pressure with our infrastructure investment.’’

According to Battle, the objective of the master plan “is to create a way of living in a smaller community within a bigger community.’’

Road work continues

As Huntsville and Madison County has grown there’s been one constant – road construction.

With traffic increasing, and work and entertainment locations evolving, keeping up with the trends is a yearly process. In the BIG Picture, roads are one area that is constantly addressed.

“We want to make sure we’re continuing to restore a sustainable infrastructure,’’ Madsen said.

Phase I of a plan to update roads is nearly complete.

“We had nine projects and we still have two left – the Northern Bypass and Mastin Lake overpass are under construction or are funded and ready to go,’’ Battle said.

Battle, Madison Mayor Paul Finley and Madison County Commission Chair Dale Strong have all been involved with Phase 2 of road work plans. Battle said teamwork among the three has proved incalculable.

“It has helped us immensely,’’ he said. “When we went down to Montgomery and brought our ‘restore the roads’ plan two, probably four of (the roads) were in the center of Huntsville but others touched other cities.

“There’s 53 going into Madison County, 72 going out to Madison and Madison County and the City of Huntsville, Madison Boulevard coming into Redstone Arsenal. All of those plans we put together were because we worked together.’’

There are seven projects that are part of Phase II that will take about 10 years to complete.

Some of the work is designed to relieve traffic off the intersecting I-565 and Research Park Boulevard that Battle said has been “something of a quagmire.’’

There are approximately 50 city road projects totalling $700 million planned for the next 25 years. The county has over $4.5 million dollars of projects on the board.

“We have enough reserve to weather any financial storm,’’ Strong said.

Current road projects include:

Northern Bypass (East of Memorial Parkway): Part of the city’s “loop” road, improving and connecting roadways from Research Park Boulevard to Martin Luther King Boulevard, Bob Wade Lane, North Memorial Parkway, Winchester Road, 72 East, 431 South, Cecil Ashburn Drive, and South Memorial Parkway.
Greenbrier Parkway: Four of five phases are complete. The fifth phase will connect Huntsville-Browns Ferry Road to I-565.
Winchester Road from Dominion to Naugher Road: Road construction scheduled for early 2024.
Martin Road Improvements II: Road construction tentatively scheduled for 2023.
Research Park Boulevard (SR 255) between University Drive (U.S. 72) and Old Madison Pike: Expected finish is late August or September.
Northern Bypass (West of Memorial Parkway): The road construction contract will be bid in fall 2022, and utility relocations will be concurrent with construction. The estimated construction time is three years and will include one mile of road improvements along U.S. 231 (Memorial Parkway) to accommodate the new intersection.
U.S. 231 from Hobbs Island Road to Weatherly Road: Project consists of 2.5 miles of access and intersection upgrades along Memorial Parkway between Weatherly Road and Hobbs Road.
U.S. 72 West between Providence Main and County Line Road: Road construction scheduled for 2025-2029.
North Memorial Parkway at Mastin Lake Road, with overpass: Road construction scheduled for 2023-26.

Pedestrian spaces

Sidewalks, as with roads, are examined annually and the city gets a high volume of calls to install them. Madsen said a crew could stay busy daily just laying sidewalks.

But, he said, “we’ve got to find the people to help us do it.’’

Finding labor hasn’t been simple coming out of the pandemic.

“Road crews need workers,’’ Battle said. “Even the landscape team will tell us we would usually have 120 part-time workers this time of year, but today we have 60. This is a great time to look at our plan and say, ‘Do we need to change that plan.’ ’’

The city is studying ways to connect existing or planned greenways with the proposed unofficially named “Skybridge” that will cross Memorial Parkway overhead and connect several developing communities with downtown.

The city was recently awarded a $20 million grant toward the $50 million needed for the suspended bridge and adjoining greenways from Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity, which is administered by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Kathy Martin, the city’s Director of Engineering, told al.com that aspects of the plan include a railroad bridge and extensive improvements to Pinhook Creek creating a “riverwalk” vibe.

She added the project would be “very iconic.’’

Quality of life

Road improvements, greenways and spaces, event sites, job growth and entry and mid-level wages as well as high-end jobs are all part of the master plan to make Huntsville a destination.

“In 2008-2009 we didn’t have that middle range of wages,’’ Battle said. “That middle income area is very very important to your community.’’

It’s all part of the BIG Picture master plan.

“If we can continue to grow our infrastructure, and part of continuing to grow our infrastructure is quality of life, continue to grow our greenways, our parks, put all of that together and you have an improved quality of life in the City of Huntsville,’’ Battle said. “That’s what we’re looking for.

“We’ve always said we don’t just want to grow exponentially, we don’t want to just grow fast, we want to grow at a measured pace. We’re right on track. We’re bringing about 4,500 (new residents) a year into the city and that’s a very manageable number for us.’’

Feature image courtesy of Marty Sellers of SellersPhoto.