Huntsville/Madison Development News (Gadsden, Hazel Green: horses, beverage, elections)

[RocketDawg]

Originally Posted by btcaub

Kids Kingdom at Dublin Park in Madison has closed for demolition and replacement….

for $750,000 the replacement looks pretty lame in comparison.

News Flash • City of Madison • CivicEngage

I've not seen what's being replaced, but based on the concept in the link, they're not getting much for $750K.

[RCSHSV]

Originally Posted by RocketDawg

I've not seen what's being replaced, but based on the concept in the link, they're not getting much for $750K.

Right looks like a nice payday for someone.

[cooldiver]

Originally Posted by RocketDawg

I've not seen what's being replaced, but based on the concept in the link, they're not getting much for $750K.

Welcome to 2022.

[Rick In Madison]

Originally Posted by btcaub

Kids Kingdom at Dublin Park in Madison has closed for demolition and replacement….

for $750,000 the replacement looks pretty lame in comparison.

News Flash • City of Madison • CivicEngage

I worked on the original that is scheduled to be razed. I did it for a few reasons, one was hoping that I would take my future kids there one day. As time progressed, we took both of our kids to the park and they enjoyed it greatly. I remember having my daughter get stuck in the baby swing as I attempted to lift her out. My son and his friends play tag and hide & seek. A lot of fun.

A call for donations and one day volunteers is out; https://www.mvpmadison.org/projects/go-build-a-kingdom & https://gobuildakingdom.com

I'm in again with a donation and one day, hopefully, a day of work. Perhaps I'll bring future grandkids to it.

[RocketDawg]

We had occasion to drive from Madison Blvd to north on Slaughter Rd (I suppose "Madison Blvd" is still called Hwy 20 at that point since it's in Huntsville) yesterday, and noticed a large amount of clearing on the west side of Slaughter between Hwy 20 and Madison Pike.

Anybody know what's being built there? I'd be willing to bet it's more apartments.

[BEL2HSV]

Originally Posted by RocketDawg

We had occasion to drive from Madison Blvd to north on Slaughter Rd (I suppose "Madison Blvd" is still called Hwy 20 at that point since it's in Huntsville) yesterday, and noticed a large amount of clearing on the west side of Slaughter between Hwy 20 and Madison Pike.

Anybody know what's being built there? I'd be willing to bet it's more apartments.

Paxton Place Apartments - 350 units.

[AU HSV]

Originally Posted by AU HSV

Light Rail possibility?
At least its now in discussion
https://www.waff.com/2022/09/01/ligh...ve-huntsville/

There are several steps before Huntsville public transit sets up a light rail.

The city’s Transit Manager, John Autry, says they would build it on their most used existing bus route along the University Drive/Highway 72 corridor, but in order to pursue this project, the government needs proof that Huntsville residents would use it.

Autry says the federal government needs to green-light the rail because they will fund the majority of the project.

The city needs to see at least 3,000 daily riders on a single line before they can start the process. Autry says they’re already well underway. He says there says some lines see as many as 2,500 daily riders already.

He says they could reach this goal within five years because of all the growth happening in the city right now.

When they reach their benchmark, the first step is building a Bus Rapid Transit system (BRT), which is a “high-quality bus-based transit system that delivers fast, comfortable, and cost-effective services at metro-level capacities,” according to the Institute for Transportation & Development Policy.

Autry says, for now, they’re trying to improve services to increase ridership.

update and clarification
The city of Huntsville is focusing on a bus rapid transit system.

City Public Transportation Manager John Autry said the Huntsville Area Metropolitan Planning Organization has contracted with a transit planning firm to complete a high capacity corridor study that is due out by the end of the year.

While a rapid bus system is under discussion, Autry said that the transit staff has not discussed bringing a high-speed rail service to the city, contrary to published reports. That possibility remains far in the future, according to city officials

[RocketDawg]

Originally Posted by AU HSV

update and clarification
The city of Huntsville is focusing on a bus rapid transit system.

City Public Transportation Manager John Autry said the Huntsville Area Metropolitan Planning Organization has contracted with a transit planning firm to complete a high capacity corridor study that is due out by the end of the year.

While a rapid bus system is under discussion, Autry said that the transit staff has not discussed bringing a high-speed rail service to the city, contrary to published reports. That possibility remains far in the future, according to city officials

BRT makes a lot more sense than light rail, and it's also a lot less expensive, at least until this area gets considerably larger (maybe 2.5M metro, which would require more than tripling the current population if Decatur/Morgan is included) and more dense. The latter may not ever happen to any significant extent.

If BRT is decided upon, it needs to serve commuters, like Cummings Research Park and the Arsenal, the latter which would need to be creative because of security - maybe a few stations on site with security checkpoints, then smaller bus service to the various buildings. Much of Redstone Gateway is outside the security fences, and it will be pretty dense once built out. Maybe Madison could participate and help things along. The two cities have near 300,000 residents already with more coming every day. It needs to be a metro thing, not just a Huntsville thing, for success (IMO).

Birmingham has a BRT system set to come online pretty soon, so there should be some lessons learned from their endeavor. As I understand the routes, they're fairly limited to "marginalized" neighborhoods going to work places closer to downtown. Further, it seems to be limited to the city itself, not including the suburbs.

[Chris_NorthHSV]

Originally Posted by RocketDawg

BRT makes a lot more sense than light rail, and it's also a lot less expensive, at least until this area gets considerably larger (maybe 2.5M metro, which would require more than tripling the current population if Decatur/Morgan is included) and more dense. The latter may not ever happen to any significant extent.

If BRT is decided upon, it needs to serve commuters, like Cummings Research Park and the Arsenal, the latter which would need to be creative because of security - maybe a few stations on site with security checkpoints, then smaller bus service to the various buildings. Much of Redstone Gateway is outside the security fences, and it will be pretty dense once built out. Maybe Madison could participate and help things along. The two cities have near 300,000 residents already with more coming every day. It needs to be a metro thing, not just a Huntsville thing, for success (IMO).

Birmingham has a BRT system set to come online pretty soon, so there should be some lessons learned from their endeavor. As I understand the routes, they're fairly limited to "marginalized" neighborhoods going to work places closer to downtown. Further, it seems to be limited to the city itself, not including the suburbs.

That's going to be the issue. These situations usually come with opposition from the suburbs.

Even though those areas are greatly benefiting from being near the activity of the main city.

[AU HSV]

Culvers will be opening a location in Hazel Green, across from Hazel Green High School. Expect to see a lot of retail development in this area as a tremendous amount of homes have and are being built. Unfortunately the opportunity to stay ahead of traffic issues is probably past, even though some improvements have been made but this Federal highway 231/431 is basically the same as it was in the 1960's albeit more traffic signals. The road should be 6 lanes to the state line or even better it should have been a controlled access bypass around Meridianville/Hazel Green but that is 30 years too late. Now we have a new University Dr type situation with development far outpacing the road infrastructure.