Despite a resident’s suggestion to redirect funds earmarked for the planned Skybridge over Memorial Parkway and Governors Drive, the Huntsville City Council voted to accept a $20 million grant to support construction.

At its regular meeting last week, the council voted to accept $20 million in grant funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s 2022 RAISE (Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity) program, in partnership with the Alabama Department of Transportation and the City.

The Pedestrian Access and Redevelopment Corridor (PARC) project, also known as the Pinhook Creek-Skybridge plan, has an expected completion date of December 2028.

Shane Davis, the city’s director of urban and economic planning, said the high-profile bridge represents only a small part of the broader effort to revitalize the Pinhook Creek area, noting that the federal funds are designated specifically for construction of the Skybridge.

“If we don’t do the Skybridge, we don’t get to take the money and reallocate it elsewhere, it goes back to (Washington) D.C. Is that correct?,’’ asked District 4’s Bill Kling.

Davis said, “Let me answer that in a different way. So I walked you through the whole scope of work. This is the project that was submitted to the federal government, saying, ‘This is our application, this is our project. If you choose us, this is what we’ll deliver to our community, the connectivity, the greenways, the flood mitigation, the linear park, the list goes on.’

“Let’s say (the City) accepts this $20 million, and then you come back afterwards to the city council as we get into construction of this and you say, ‘We decided that we’re not going to do the Skybridge over the two U.S. highways (431/231) and reduce the fatalities.’ We would have to send those funds back.’’

Four points were examined to win the award – increase safety, connect communities, increase jobs and encourage investment. Part of winning the grant was the fact six pedestrians were killed and 24 others seriously injured at the intersection between 2018-2022.

Since 1988 in the project area there have been 46 pedestrian fatalities accounting for 37 percent of such incidents in Huntsville.

“It’s a major issue in our city,’’ Davis said. “We don’t want any pedestrian fatalities, regardless of where they’re at, but this is definitely a hotspot for that.’’

The project will be constructed in phases, which the city hopes to begin before the year is out once necessary permits are finalized for bids to be accepted.

The first phase calls for widening Pinhook Creek from Holmes Avenue to Memorial Parkway to improve flood protection and link economic development on the city’s western edge to downtown.

A part of the plan is replacing the old wooden railroad bridge near the Von Braun Center.

“The flood mitigation alone is just a really, really good project,” District 3 Council Member Dr. Jennie Robinson said. “And replacing the railroad bridge, I’ve heard about that from the railroad authority for years. That needs to be done.’’

The second phase includes the 1,100-foot-long cable suspended pedestrian Skybridge, which includes two sections, and Davis added “it’s very specific in what those federal dollars can go fund.’’

The plan also includes three precast pedestrian bridges that will connect Big Spring Park, the Medical District, Mill Creek and Lowe Mill.

“I’ve certainly heard from a few citizens about the bridge, and once I explain it, not as eloquently as you (Shane), the (Skybridge) is a small piece to a really a big project, the flood mitigation, the green ways, the connectivity to other parts of town,’’ District 2’s David Little concluded.

“So let’s just wait until, you know, 10 years and we’ll be like, ‘Ah, now I know why we’re doing this. I mean, it’s a long, heavy lift, and y’all been working on it probably since my kids were in diapers, it sounds like.’’

Other elements of the project, which began as a flood mitigation strategy first addressed by the City in partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 2006, can be found at www.huntsvilleal.com as part of the city’s master plan.

“It’s more than just a sky bridge,’’ Little added. “It’s more than just a flood mitigation.’’