Cracked cement and uneven sidewalks. These are things Lonnie Stone jogs over every afternoon in downtown Huntsville.
Stone says, “Most of them are alright. You know you do have to sometimes watch around for a crack here or there. Or some of the sidewalks that have separated and have lifted up.”
Yesterday the city of Huntsville opened up the bids to complete a sidewalk project that’s a part of the downtown area’s beautification project. The project is expected to cost a couple million dollars and will add six new sidewalks on Jefferson, Holmes and Spragins.
Stone says, “That would be neat, yeah, because I know the ones they did from the square down to Washington Street, you know, are a whole lot better to walk and jog on also most definitely. It can’t help but help it a whole lot.”
To most every day jogger or walker, these may just be sidewalks. But for the city, these cement slabs are the foundation moving downtown Huntsville to grow.
Huntsville City Administrator, John Hamilton, says, “I think it’s important that we continue to work on giving these people alternatives in housing solutions and at the same time work on the infrastructure it takes to accommodate that, so in this case we’re talking about pedestrian infrastructure and it’s an important part of our strategy throughout the city.
For Lonnie, the less time he has to worry about uneven or cracked sidewalks the more time he can enjoy the city around him.
Stone says, “It’s neat I’m heading towards the park right now. I like to jog around the park in that area down there. You never know what you’re going to see and someone’s always got their dog and throwing a frisbee. It helps passing the time while you’re jogging.”
And the city hopes these sidewalks encourage more people to pass the time checking out the other improvements in downtown Huntsville.
