Huntsville updates

[Rail Claimore]

I've always thought that any new interstate going through North Alabama should stay south of the Tennessee River. Some of you will probably disagree, and the main reason the route was to be built north of the river was so that it would go through Huntsville, instead of skirt it like I-65 does.

But there are advantages to building it south of the river. There's probably a lot less EIS paperwork to go through if that's the case, and it would provide for economic development opportunities in Morgan County and could also spur the development of Decatur's outer beltline. It would also be less costly because no new bridges across the river would be required. Plus, the Parkway would then serve as a limited-access spur from the south. I also think US 72 east should be upgraded to interstate standards to I-24 in Tennessee.

I think that economic activity is too concentrated along the I-565 corridor in this area, and it shows with all the congestion you have to deal with on any E-W route out of Huntsville. Attracting new development to areas south of the river would balance this out a bit, and it would give incentive to build just one new river crossing about halfway between I-65 and US-231 to connect with the airport, west side of the Arsenal, and Research Park. This would be a great alternative to over-reliance on the Parkway and 565.

[neilson]

Originally Posted by Rail Claimore

I've always thought that any new interstate going through North Alabama should stay south of the Tennessee River. Some of you will probably disagree, and the main reason the route was to be built north of the river was so that it would go through Huntsville, instead of skirt it like I-65 does.

But there are advantages to building it south of the river. There's probably a lot less EIS paperwork to go through if that's the case, and it would provide for economic development opportunities in Morgan County and could also spur the development of Decatur's outer beltline. It would also be less costly because no new bridges across the river would be required. Plus, the Parkway would then serve as a limited-access spur from the south. I also think US 72 east should be upgraded to interstate standards to I-24 in Tennessee.

I think that economic activity is too concentrated along the I-565 corridor in this area, and it shows with all the congestion you have to deal with on any E-W route out of Huntsville. Attracting new development to areas south of the river would balance this out a bit, and it would give incentive to build just one new river crossing about halfway between I-65 and US-231 to connect with the airport, west side of the Arsenal, and Research Park. This would be a great alternative to over-reliance on the Parkway and 565.

Exactly. Remember when I brought up the idea of a Bridge over Wall Triana Hwy at the Tennessee River to help with traffic? Well, if you run the Memphis-Atlanta(Non I-22) Superhighway to Decatur, then use the Decatur Outer Bypass to I-65 and run the new interstate along northern Morgan County and western Marshall County before joining up with the original Sand Mountain alignment of the highway, then that would be feasible.

Besides, Wall Triana Hwy is 4 Lanes divided south of the Airport until Triana.

[SpawnOfVulcan]

Huntsville officials would never let that happen.

[studio cms]

They say the army's decision not to allow the route through the arsenal may delay the project by 5-10 years... So it will be done in 2135 instead of 2125. Either way, we'll all be dead by the time this thing is finished.

Chris

[HSVTiger]

Huntsville loses a great homegrown restaurant today..Soul Burger,
the best burgers in town
Not because of lack of business ,

Between facing two rent increases this past year and dealing with rising grocery prices.

Thanks Cathy, you made everyone's life better..feel the love.
She may still do the catering business

A new upscale club will be opening downtown at the old Jazz Factory location soon.

[Huntsville_secede]

Originally Posted by HSVTiger

Huntsville loses a great homegrown restaurant today..Soul Burger,
the best burgers in town
Not because of lack of business ,

Between facing two rent increases this past year and dealing with rising grocery prices.

Thanks Cathy, you made everyone's life better..feel the love.
She may still do the catering business

A new upscale club will be opening downtown at the old Jazz Factory location soon.

It's a shame to lose Jazz Factory and Soul Burger as well.. I'm assuming Jazz Factory has already closed? What is Huntsville definition as Upscale club.. whats the target audience? age group? type of music? etc.

[codyg1985]

One has to wonder now about the alternatives there are for providing a southern bypass around Huntsville. The route through Redstone posed too many security issues since it went close to major office facilities at Redstone. The route could be shifted outward so that it left I-565 at Madison east of Wall-Triana Hwy, paralleled Zierdt Road to the west to near Triana, and then went east across the arsenal to Memorial Pkwy near Hobbs Island Road as the canceled route would have done. If the route were farther out, it would benefit the southern most areas of Huntsville along the Tennessee River, and it would also benefit the area between Madison and Triana. The big drawbacks to this is that the route would still have to enter the arsenal, and it would traverse through sensitive wildlife areas, both of which would take years to get approved.

If the route were shifted inward instead, it would follow the northern and eastern boundaries of Redstone Arsenal, and rejoin the existing route where the Weatherly Road extension would intersect the freeway. This would displace a lot of residents in SW Huntsville, and buying the land to build would be expensive. The route would come close to the arsenal but would not enter the arsenal.

One other alternative that I could think of is to finish the overpasses along Memorial Parkway. I think though that in order to achieve most of these outcomes, the parkway should be widened to eight lanes from Sparkman Drive to Martin Road, and six elsewhere, and brought up to interstate-standards (wider shoulders, more lanes, and more gradual grade transitions between overpasses). This would be expensive to do as well, and additional right-of-way would need to be purchased, but would not require as much land
as either of the previous alternatives. This would also include an upgrade of the I-565/Memorial Pkwy interchange, which would include flyovers and additional lanes on the ramps.


The purpose of this project is three-fold:
- To improve access to Redstone Arsenal
- To alleviate congestion along Memorial Parkway
- To spur economic development in south Huntsville

The current route IMO best satisfies the first purpose. Any other route would not improve access to the part of the arsenal where most commuters enter (Gate 9).

I think that for now, the project is dead unless there are better, more feasible ideas floating around.

[TimCity2000]

wow, when did the jazz factory close? haven't been up to huntsville in a while.

[HSVTiger]

Originally Posted by TimCity2000

wow, when did the jazz factory close? haven't been up to huntsville in a while.

about a month ago, the owners moved to Oregon or someplace out west I think.

[10101000]

Originally Posted by Huntsville_secede

5th

Sorry...

[ThatGuy]

Problem solved. Just continue to put low-income housing in south huntsville. That will drive out the working-class, tax-paying population that is driving to work and shop along the parkway. No need for new roads or overpasses.

[HSVTiger]

Originally Posted by Huntsville_secede

It's a shame to lose Jazz Factory and Soul Burger as well.. I'm assuming Jazz Factory has already closed? What is Huntsville definition as Upscale club.. whats the target audience? age group? type of music? etc.

from the HSV Times
http://www.al.com/entertainment/huntsvil...ntertainment/1240505998151460.xml&coll=1

"We're getting ready to bring a big-city club to Huntsville," says Randy Helton, co-founder of Club Rush with businessman Mickey Summerford. "It's something that people have been asking for."

The new concept will be two floors of entertainment on North Side Square. The first level will be a high-energy dance club, and upstairs will have what the owners call a "more laid-back atmosphere."

Club Rush will enforce a dress code that is still being developed but probably will include collared shirts, no tennis shoes and no baggy clothes. The nightspot likely will have a cover charge.

Helton brings his experience from managing other area dance clubs, such as Axis, Club 721 and The Horse.

"We're going to bring a different atmosphere that will appeal to all ages," he says. "Young professionals is our target market."

Summerford says the club has 5,000 square feet on each level.

The building was once home to a Montgomery Ward department store and later housed Wilson Furniture. It was remodeled as a restaurant in 1994 in an attempt to return it to the 1920s grandeur with an open first floor and mezzanine. As Richard's on the Square, it operated for two years, followed by another upscale eatery named Vici Cafe.

Entrepreneurs from the San Francisco area transformed it into the Jazz Factory in 1997, but owners Steve Wang and Gevara Teebi decided late last year to move back to the West Coast. The main floor is getting a complete overhaul for Club Rush. The VIP rooms will be available for parties and company functions.

"Downstairs is going to be like a modern, upscale dance club," Summerford says. "Upstairs will be live music or a deejay, probably appealing to a little bit more mature crowd."

[chris21718]

Concerning the Memphis-to-Atlanta Highway -- why can't it just follow US 72 east of the city by making US 72 an extension of I-565 out to the point that the new highway could branch off and head toward Atlanta? That way, no new road would have to disrupt the arsenal or South Huntsville.

[HSVTiger]

Originally Posted by chris21718

Concerning the Memphis-to-Atlanta Highway -- why can't it just follow US 72 east of the city by making US 72 an extension of I-565 out to the point that the new highway could branch off and head toward Atlanta? That way, no new road would have to disrupt the arsenal or South Huntsville.

This road has been in the planning for 20 years, to try and rehash the why's and but's would be impossible. In any case if they could just finish ANY project now would be a major accomplishment.

[chris21718]

Yes, it takes so long to do any road project now. It takes longer to put one overpass on Memorial Parkway than it took to originally build it. It took 18.5 months to completely build Memorial Parkway from the Meridian Street intersection to the north down to the Whitesburg Dr. intersection to the south (May 19, 1954 when equipment was moved to the location to start on it to its opening to traffic Dec. 1 1955). 18 months was a typical contract period for building a major new road in Huntsville at that time.

[HSVTiger]

Tourism increases..

The 16-county North Alabama Mountain Lakes region saw an 8 percent gain in tourism dollars last year over 2007, with $2.1 billion spent, according to a report just released by the Alabama Tourism Department.

While spending in the Gulf Coast surpassed the northern region of the state, at $3.3 billion, the beach saw a 1 percent increase in tourism dollars.

[mlog]

Originally Posted by Rail Claimore

I've always thought that any new interstate going through North Alabama should stay south of the Tennessee River. Some of you will probably disagree, and the main reason the route was to be built north of the river was so that it would go through Huntsville, instead of skirt it like I-65 does.

But there are advantages to building it south of the river. There's probably a lot less EIS paperwork to go through if that's the case, and it would provide for economic development opportunities in Morgan County and could also spur the development of Decatur's outer beltline. It would also be less costly because no new bridges across the river would be required. Plus, the Parkway would then serve as a limited-access spur from the south. I also think US 72 east should be upgraded to interstate standards to I-24 in Tennessee.

I think that economic activity is too concentrated along the I-565 corridor in this area, and it shows with all the congestion you have to deal with on any E-W route out of Huntsville. Attracting new development to areas south of the river would balance this out a bit, and it would give incentive to build just one new river crossing about halfway between I-65 and US-231 to connect with the airport, west side of the Arsenal, and Research Park. This would be a great alternative to over-reliance on the Parkway and 565.

I hate to quote your entire message, but I agree with it. I was thinking pretty much the same thing a few days ago.

[mlog]

Originally Posted by HSVTiger

Huntsville loses a great homegrown restaurant today..Soul Burger,
the best burgers in town
Not because of lack of business ,

Between facing two rent increases this past year and dealing with rising grocery prices.

Thanks Cathy, you made everyone's life better..feel the love.
She may still do the catering business

A new upscale club will be opening downtown at the old Jazz Factory location soon.

It's ironic that for some reason today I decided to go to Soul Burger for lunch, but there was a very long line outside the door at an early time. I decided to go to Sonic across the street instead. I hadn't heard of the closing. It's so sad.

[Rail Claimore]

I hadn't even heard of Soul Burger until a few weeks ago when a friend invited me for lunch. It took 30 minutes to get my order because they forgot about it.

[Rail Claimore]

Originally Posted by neilson

Exactly. Remember when I brought up the idea of a Bridge over Wall Triana Hwy at the Tennessee River to help with traffic? Well, if you run the Memphis-Atlanta(Non I-22) Superhighway to Decatur, then use the Decatur Outer Bypass to I-65 and run the new interstate along northern Morgan County and western Marshall County before joining up with the original Sand Mountain alignment of the highway, then that would be feasible.

Besides, Wall Triana Hwy is 4 Lanes divided south of the Airport until Triana.

Exactly. It has to be taken into consideration that there are two parts of the Tennessee Valley: north of the river and south. The river is what made this part of the state, and that geography must still be taken into consideration.