City of Huntsville Secures Federal RAISE Grant For Pedestrian Access Project

Thanks to a massive infusion of $20 million in federal grant funding, the City of Huntsville can now check off another of its long-desired goals: creating a more walkable city. An added bonus: the grant will provide an economic boost to low-income communities.

While the pedestrian access and redevelopment corridor (PARC) project has been on the City’s to-do list for over a decade, funding shortfalls kept the project in a holding pattern. The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grant, which aims to bring about needed improvements across the nation, has ensured that the PARC project can now move forward.

“Huntsville welcomes the RAISE grant, which will allow us to take property out of flood zones, enhance connectivity and improve our transportation grid along Pinhook Creek,” Mayor Tommy Battle said. “We appreciate our partnership with the federal government and this grant, which will help us take Huntsville to the next level.”

The Huntsville Business Journal reached out to Constellation developer D. Scott McLain, CCIM, CRE of Coldwell Banker Commercial McLain Real Estate, who helped secure the grant for the City by writing letters for Constellation for each of the three grant applications in support of the project. 

He described the proximity of the bridge and Pinhook Creek to Constellation as “a happy accident that is not of anyone’s planning or device…that said, the PARC and bridge are major enhancements [to] the Constellation neighborhood, and we are happy.”

“The RAISE grant is a major achievement and enhancement for downtown Huntsville. The address of the flood issues that plague our central city, as well as the enhancement of connectivity and access of people on either side of our major highway, Memorial Parkway, are all terrific and needed,” McLain said.

McLain is also looking forward to the aesthetic, economic, and wellness benefits that the future pedestrian walkway will bring to the Downtown Huntsville area.

“The design of the bridge, often called the “Skybridge,” will also give Huntsville a new icon of architecture that will enhance our city. The bridge and PARC (creek improvement and greenway into perhaps a “River Promenade) will stimulate health, equity, connectivity, alternative transportation, tourism, and economic development,” McLain explained.

“The project would never have been approved if it were just a pretty bridge.”