DECATUR, Ala. — Take a look around Madison County, and you’ll see major roadwork on our streets and highways!
However, there is still more work on the way to be done. FOX54’s Keneisha Deas caught up with the Director of the Alabama Department of Transportation to learn about which roads need more work in the county.
“It is really important to help people commute to work, in the most efficient and safe way possible,” said ALDOT Director John Cooper. “And so the [Huntsville] is trying to help people who work in the city in a more efficient or safe way."
Last week, the Huntsville City Council voted to approve a $30 million dollar contract in partnership with ALDOT for the Northern Bypass.
“So there would be a ring-road around the city which would make it easier for people to get from Point A to Point B, and avoid the simple city roads and traffic congestion,” said City of Huntsville Councilman Bill Kling, (Dist.4).
This is a city-led project, which is part of the ‘Restore Our Roads’ initiative backed by Mayor Tommy Battle.
“This would be the Northern Bypass which would eventually connect around Hampton Cove and come up to where what we would call Governors Drive, Highway 231/431 goes out East into Hampton Cove,” said Kling.
Other major projects are underway.
“We have to continue to improve I-565. We’ve got to find a way to update and modernize and expand 72 West, through both Huntsville and Madison all the way through the county line, and we’ve got to find a way to get more traffic, reasonably on South Parkway,” said Cooper.
ALDOT turned to the public for feedback on their proposal to revamp the South Memorial Parkway Corridor.
“We’re still in the planning phase, and I do not believe we’re in a contract - It’s going to take some time to plan it’s going to take the cooperation of us and the city to take that off the paper and put it into the ground,” added Cooper.