Huntsville updates

[SpawnOfVulcan]

As I've already mentioned, I'm glad to see commercial development occurring in South MadCo. I'm interested to see how this will impact Triana. I'm sure most residents of the town would prefer it to remain quiet, but it's already starting to grown (and be encroached upon).

As much as I would hate for Triana to lose a small town identity, I think the chance to prevent it is already gone. Question is what comes next. I think there's a lot of potential for the area to become a nice lake community.

[HSVTiger]

UAHuntsville expands
Board of trustees approved the purchase of a 58-acre piece of property adjacent to the campus for $7.1 million. It sits across Sparkman Drive from the Bevill Conference Center and Hotel.
Campus officials said the property is "one of the priority zones in Huntsville's 2016 urban renewal and redevelopment plan."
"This will give us more flexibility in housing our students in the future," Ray Garner, chief of staff for the university president, said.
No decision has been made for what exactly the campus will build on the property, but UAH President Robert Altenkirch describes the future of the property as possibly a "college town neighborhood."
"It could create a walkable space of mixed use residential and retail amenities for students, faculty, and staff common to other college campuses, but now missing from UAH," Altenkirch said in a statement.

[mp7123]

Aerojet Rocketdyne, Inc., a subsidiary of Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: AJRD), announced that it will consolidate several facilities and relocate their operations to Huntsville, Alabama over the next two years.

“We are two years into the first phase of our [Competitive Improvement Program] CIP affordability drive and the consolidation progress, and overhead cost reductions achieved to date have exceeded our expectations,” said Aerojet Rocketdyne CEO and President Eileen Drake. “We intend to build on this success by expanding our CIP-related consolidation efforts so we can deliver the value our customers demand and position our company for further growth.”

Aerojet Rocketdyne plans to consolidate its Sacramento and Vernon, California, and Gainesville, Virginia, sites while centralizing and expanding its existing presence in Huntsville, Alabama, with a new, state-of-the-art manufacturing facility for AR1 engine production, Additive Manufacturing, Composites production and Research & Development expected to be ready for production in mid-2019.

To accommodate the company’s consolidations, overall growth plans for Huntsville include the addition of approximately 800 jobs to support America’s space and defense needs for the next quarter century and beyond.

https://www.huntsvilleal.gov/aerojet-rocketdyne-expands-huntsville-700-new-jobs/

[HSVTiger]

Originally Posted by mp7123

Aerojet Rocketdyne, Inc., a subsidiary of Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: AJRD), announced that it will consolidate several facilities and relocate their operations to Huntsville, Alabama over the next two years.

“We are two years into the first phase of our [Competitive Improvement Program] CIP affordability drive and the consolidation progress, and overhead cost reductions achieved to date have exceeded our expectations,” said Aerojet Rocketdyne CEO and President Eileen Drake. “We intend to build on this success by expanding our CIP-related consolidation efforts so we can deliver the value our customers demand and position our company for further growth.”

Aerojet Rocketdyne plans to consolidate its Sacramento and Vernon, California, and Gainesville, Virginia, sites while centralizing and expanding its existing presence in Huntsville, Alabama, with a new, state-of-the-art manufacturing facility for AR1 engine production, Additive Manufacturing, Composites production and Research & Development expected to be ready for production in mid-2019.

To accommodate the company’s consolidations, overall growth plans for Huntsville include the addition of approximately 800 jobs to support America’s space and defense needs for the next quarter century and beyond.

https://www.huntsvilleal.gov/aerojet-rocketdyne-expands-huntsville-700-new-jobs/

this new plant will be built in the new North Huntsville Industrial Park adjacent to Toyota

[SpawnOfVulcan]

Sure to spur some more development north of town. Maybe it'll pull in more commuters from Tennessee.

[stallty]

Great announcement and will be great for that area! Mayor Battle's post about the announcement is spot on and leaves no question he will be running for Governor.

[Saj07]

Originally Posted by tascalisa

... Maybe it'll pull in more commuters from Tennessee.

I think we have enough left lane slow TN commuters already.

It is exciting to see some more industry develop on the north side of town. That area has had little change over the last 40 years other than more housing just outside the city limits.

[SpawnOfVulcan]

Originally Posted by Saj07

I think we have enough left lane slow TN commuters already.

It is exciting to see some more industry develop on the north side of town. That area has had little change over the last 40 years other than more housing just outside the city limits.

I only mentioned that because it could help flip Lincoln County into the Huntsville Metro.

[David1502]

Originally Posted by tascalisa

I only mentioned that because it could help flip Lincoln County into the Huntsville Metro.

I'm not sure how familiar you are with Madison County, but Nashville/Davidson County, TN has less land area than Madison County, yet it presently has almost twice as many people (approaching 700,000 in the latest Census estimates as compared to Madison County, AL's 353,000).

There is ample land available for growth - in fact, just north of the North Huntsville Industrial Park, where the Aerojet Rocketdyne plant will be built, lies thousands of acres of cotton fields. Despite the urbanization, Madison County is still the number one cotton producing county in the state.

While some of the plant workers may be tempted to look at Lincoln County, TN, they will have ample opportunities for housing in Madison County and with Alabama Highway 255, also known as Research Park Blvd., at their doorstep, they will have a quick commute to the Monrovia and City of Madison areas as well as the adjacent Meridianville and (a little to the north), Hazel Green areas which offer affordable housing all along US Highway 231/431.

[SpawnOfVulcan]

Originally Posted by David1502

I'm not sure how familiar you are with Madison County, but Nashville/Davidson County, TN has less land area than Madison County, yet it presently has almost twice as many people (approaching 700,000 in the latest Census estimates as compared to Madison County, AL's 353,000).

There is ample land available for growth - in fact, just north of the North Huntsville Industrial Park, where the Aerojet Rocketdyne plant will be built, lies thousands of acres of cotton fields. Despite the urbanization, Madison County is still the number one cotton producing county in the state.

While some of the plant workers may be tempted to look at Lincoln County, TN, they will have ample opportunities for housing in Madison County and with Alabama Highway 255, also known as Research Park Blvd., at their doorstep, they will have a quick commute to the Monrovia and City of Madison areas as well as the adjacent Meridianville and (a little to the north), Hazel Green areas which offer affordable housing all along US Highway 231/431.

I'm quite familiar with Madison County, I grew up in Decatur. If you'll take a look at commute patterns all across the Southeast, you'll notice that proximity to one's job doesn't always predict where they'll choose to live. It still baffles me that enough people in Chilton County are willing to commute to Birmingham that it's included in Birmingham-Hoover.

Yes, if an employee of this new facility decides to move to the area, places like Monrovia, Meridianville, Hazel Green, and Huntsville-proper are all great choices, but there are plenty of examples every where you look where distance isn't a factor in where they decide to live. Heck, a quarter of the people that work on my floor commute from at least an hour out (I'll still never understand why one of my coworkers chose to commute every day from Florence...).

As far as tipping Lincoln County, TN into the Huntsville Metro goes... the county's relatively small population (30,000-35,000), already established commuting population, and inclusion in Huntsville's media and National Weather Service territory already make the county likely to be included in the future as Huntsville's economy continues to grow and sprawl continues to creep north.

Also, what does Nashville-Davidson have to do with this?

[David1502]

Originally Posted by tascalisa

Also, what does Nashville-Davidson have to do with this?

I used Nashville/Davidson County merely as a comparison that Madison County can easily double its population without being crowded.

I agree that there are large numbers of people who commute from the less populated, more rural counties around the HSV area, I would venture to guess that a lot of them are natives of those counties. I would be curious to see how many transplants from outside the south will choose to live in Lincoln County, TN or Jackson County, Alabama - it would be too much of a culture shock for them. In fact, several years ago, I talked to a guy who worked for Nucor Steel in Decatur and he said that all of the salaried workers lived in Madison, while the hourly workers lived in Decatur. The salaried workers wanted to be closer to the amenities of HSV. A good example of this is the Limestone Creek Apartments located at the I-565 and Greenbriar Rd. interchange. This complex has been successful because it attracts those who work at the many industries in Decatur, yet they are happy to be a quick 10 to 15 minute drive to restaurant and business locations in Madison and Huntsville (like Bridge Street).

Finally, for those Aerojet Rocketdyne employees who move from Sacramento, I would be surprised if many of them will consider the rural outlying areas. Just moving to Alabama (and Huntsville at that) will be a significant change.

[SpawnOfVulcan]

Originally Posted by David1502

I used Nashville/Davidson County merely as a comparison that Madison County can easily double its population without being crowded.

I agree that there are large numbers of people who commute from the less populated, more rural counties around the HSV area, I would venture to guess that a lot of them are natives of those counties. I would be curious to see how many transplants from outside the south will choose to live in Lincoln County, TN or Jackson County, Alabama - it would be too much of a culture shock for them. In fact, several years ago, I talked to a guy who worked for Nucor Steel in Decatur and he said that all of the salaried workers lived in Madison, while the hourly workers lived in Decatur. The salaried workers wanted to be closer to the amenities of HSV. A good example of this is the Limestone Creek Apartments located at the I-565 and Greenbriar Rd. interchange. This complex has been successful because it attracts those who work at the many industries in Decatur, yet they are happy to be a quick 10 to 15 minute drive to restaurant and business locations in Madison and Huntsville (like Bridge Street).

Finally, for those Aerojet Rocketdyne employees who move from Sacramento, I would be surprised if many of them will consider the rural outlying areas. Just moving to Alabama (and Huntsville at that) will be a significant change.

I agree with a lot of what you bring up.

Local officials actually expect most of the positions to be filled by locals, or people that would be moving to Huntsville anyway looking to get one of the many jobs that are constantly coming through the pipeline. Yes, some of the positions are bound to be comings out of Sacramento and Gainesville, VA. Don't forget, though, as large of a population as Sacramento has, it too has tons of agricultural land surrounding it as well as interspersed between various sprawling suburbs, just like Huntsville. Aside from politics population, the cities aren't all that dissimilar.

[HSVTiger]

Joe Davis stadium former home of the Huntsville Stars AA Baseball before they left may become an amphitheater. The city has an architect to do a feasibility study to turn the 10,000 seat stadium into an outdoor venue. It was slated for demolition but maybe not now. The proposal/concepts will be presented mid/late August.

[RCSHSV]

Originally Posted by HSVTiger

Joe Davis stadium former home of the Huntsville Stars AA Baseball before they left may become an amphitheater. The city has an architect to do a feasibility study to turn the 10,000 seat stadium into an outdoor venue. It was slated for demolition but maybe not now. The proposal/concepts will be presented mid/late August.

Wow! That will be good to have 2 planned amphitheatres. One in west and one in south Huntsville. The one at MidCity will bring LiveNation. This is great progression for the city!

[ctb]

There seems to be a lot of ground prep activity going on at the old Hobbs Sod Farm at Leeman Ferry and Johnson Road (34.690663, -86.592656).
Does anyone have any idea about what is happening there?

[Colin Giersberg]

There may be plenty of land in northern Madison County for people to live, but for them to have an easy drive or commute to Madison, Monrovia, etc., forget it. The closer you get to these areas, the worse the traffic is. Hwy. 72 through Madison, AL. is horrendous between Wall Triana eastward and is backing up as far west as Balch road. More people trying to get around only exacerbates the problems. I work at Lowe's in Madison and traffic today was backed up from the hospital in Madison east as far as I could see, but I was travelling west at the time. It is like this every day that I work and I only work Friday through Sunday. I do realize that everyone is making their spring purchases and that traffic is heavy for that reason, but it was heavy from the Christmas rush ever since.
I for one would love to see the gas tax get raised, just because I believe that that is the only way roads will get expanded to accommodate the traffic. In my opinion, Capshaw/Old Monrovia Rd., US 72, Old Railroad Bed, Wall Triana, Hughes Rd, Jeff Rd., Slaughter Rd. and others all need to be widened with center turn lanes and outside turn lanes just to get the traffic out of the way of through traffic. All new subdivisions being built and all existing Subdivisions along all of these routes and others need outside turn lanes as well.

[huntsvillefan]

Originally Posted by Colin Giersberg

There may be plenty of land in northern Madison County for people to live, but for them to have an easy drive or commute to Madison, Monrovia, etc., forget it. The closer you get to these areas, the worse the traffic is. Hwy. 72 through Madison, AL. is horrendous between Wall Triana eastward and is backing up as far west as Balch road. More people trying to get around only exacerbates the problems. I work at Lowe's in Madison and traffic today was backed up from the hospital in Madison east as far as I could see, but I was travelling west at the time. It is like this every day that I work and I only work Friday through Sunday. I do realize that everyone is making their spring purchases and that traffic is heavy for that reason, but it was heavy from the Christmas rush ever since.
I for one would love to see the gas tax get raised, just because I believe that that is the only way roads will get expanded to accommodate the traffic. In my opinion, Capshaw/Old Monrovia Rd., US 72, Old Railroad Bed, Wall Triana, Hughes Rd, Jeff Rd., Slaughter Rd. and others all need to be widened with center turn lanes and outside turn lanes just to get the traffic out of the way of through traffic. All new subdivisions being built and all existing Subdivisions along all of these routes and others need outside turn lanes as well.

I am with you on a gas tax. It seems to me our politicians are quite short sighted. We need better roads and the best way to pay for better roads is by those who use them. I don't like toll roads but that might have to happen if a few cents increase in gas tax can't happen because of obstructionist politicians.

[stallty]

Originally Posted by huntsvillefan

I am with you on a gas tax. It seems to me our politicians are quite short sighted. We need better roads and the best way to pay for better roads is by those who use them. I don't like toll roads but that might have to happen if a few cents increase in gas tax can't happen because of obstructionist politicians.

While short sighted politicians are part of the problem, the other is a population in Alabama that is so set on no tax increases. Alabama is one of the least taxed/ most regressive taxed states in the country and it shows.

Another part of the problem is ALDOT's priorities, which are politically driven not by necessity. Montgomery's 150 million i85 exit to basically no where. I recently graduated from Auburn and not once making the trek home the past year did I see traffic that warranted this flyover exit. Then you have the 5.4 billion for Birmingham's northern belt line.

While Huntsville can't secure the money for a proper interchange at i565 and Research Park - an interchange that connects two of the largest economic engines in the state.

Maybe 10 years from now when our roads are 100x worse and there is no money to fix them it will drive more urban infill -- silver linings.

[Colin Giersberg]

Don't forget the I-59 / I-20 rebuild in Birmingham.

Alabama Department of Transportation As Read Bids

Letting Date: April 14, 2017
999. ACIMF-I059(385), ACIMF-I059(394) JEFFERSON COUNTY
FOR CONSTRUCTING THE BRIDGE REPLACEMENT AND APPROACHES (GRADE, DRAIN, BASE, PAVE, STRIPING, SIGNING, RETAINING WALLS, AND LIGHTING) ON I-20/59 FROM THE I-65 INTERCHANGE TO NORTH OF THE 31ST STREET NORTH INTERCHANGE AND INTERCHANGE MODIFICATIONS ON E.B. STEPHENS EXPRESSWAY; TO INCLUDE DRAINAGE AND STREETSCAPE IMPROVEMENTS (GRADE, DRAIN, BASE, PAVE, SIDEWALKS, RELIEF CULVERT, SIGNING, AND STRIPING) ON 9TH AVENUE NORTH FROM THE INTERSECTION OF 15TH STREET NORTH TO THE INTERSECTION OF 23RD STREET NORTH AND CROSS STREETS (15TH STREET NORTH THROUGH 25TH STREET NORTH) IN BIRMINGHAM. LENGTH 3.584 MI.
$ 474,778,175.95 1 JOHNSON BROS. CORPORATION, A SOUTHLAND COMPANY AND OSCAR RENDA CONTRACTING, INC.
608 HENRIETTA CREEK RD., ROANOKE, TX
$ 519,920,356.28 2 GRANITE CONSTRUCTION COMPANY, INC. P. O. BOX 50085, WATSONVILLE, CA

[huntsvillefan]

One of Huntsville's big advantages right now is the relatively easy access one has to various parts of the city. The city did raise the sales tax by a penny, which will help enormously, but the need for state-wide gas tax seems so obvious.

I do wish ALDOT were removed from political bias.