A dangerous Huntsville area intersection is among $40 million in new state road projects, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey announced on Friday.

“Limestone County intersection improvements are on the way for State Route 53 and Pinedale Road,” Ivey said of the intersection in Ardmore. “I don’t have to tell anyone here that that spot has been a safety concern and traffic headache for quite some time.”

State Rep. Andy Whitt said the intersection on the state highway that runs from the Tennessee state line into Huntsville has been the site of numerous fatalities and injuries, including an accident recently involving a Greyhound bus.

“This is a dangerous stretch of 53,” Whitt said. “We have drivers coming out of Tennessee. There are speed issues and turning lane issues.”

The $1.25 million project is one of 24 projects selected this year for funding through the Alabama Transportation Rehabilitation and Improvement Program-II (ATRIP-II), a program created in 2019 by the Rebuild Alabama Act. The Rebuild Alabama Act requires ATRIP-II to be an annual program setting aside a minimum of $30 million off the top of the Alabama Department of Transportation’s share of new gas tax revenue for projects of local interest on the state highway system.

State Sen. Tim Melson said he, Whitt and other lawmakers took criticism for passing the gas tax proposed by Ivey. But he said projects like the one at State Route 53 and Pinedale Road would not be possible without it.

“These improvements aren’t happening by accident,” Ivey added. “They’re happening because we worked together to pass a smart, responsible infrastructure plan and we’ve stuck to it. This project is a perfect example of what Rebuild Alabama was created to do.”

As for the project itself, ALDOT North Region Engineer Curtis Vincent said turn lanes will be constructed at the intersection on the heavily traveled road into Huntsville.

He said the work “will make the intersection safer and more efficient for the traffic.”

“Preliminary engineering has been authorized,” Vincent said. “Surveying has begun. ALDOT will design this project in house.”

ALDOT spokesman Seth Burkett said actual construction at the intersection could start within two years. He said speeding up the timeline is the fact that most, if not all, of the work will be done within the existing state right-of-way.

Vincent also said the intersection project joins a couple of other ALDOT projects on State Route 53.

He said a more than $4 million project in Madison County is nearing completion. The project involves improvements, including turn lanes and signals, on State Route 53 at Old Railroad Bed Road and Harvest Road.

 “The contractor, the Rogers Group, will soon begin final paving, which will be followed by permanent striping and markings,” Vincent said. “Hopefully all will be wrapped up within five to six weeks.”

He said utility relocation is underway for widening State Route 53 from Taurus Drive to Harvest Road.

“Overhead electric lines have been moved. Water and telecoms are being moved as we speak,” Vincent said. “Later this year, we will let the construction project, estimated to cost between $8 million and $10 million to convert more than one mile of this corridor to a five-lane highway.”

“Oftentimes these improvements are costly and take time,” Whitt added.

“When we passed the Rebuild Alabama Act, I made a promise that every single county, all 67 of them, would benefit,” Ivey said. “I’m proud to report that promise has been kept. More than 350 roads and bridge projects have been funded to date touching every corner of the state.”

Other Huntsville-area projects

• Access management improvements will be made on U.S. 72 at Liberty Lane and Micah Way in Scottsboro with $1.1 million in state funds and $251,000 in local funds.
• There will be intersection improvements and a realignment of Litte Cove Road, including turn lanes, at U.S. 72 in Gurley with $7.4 million in state funds and $2 million in local funds.
• There will be intersection improvements at U.S. 431 at Wyeth Drive, Webb Avenue and Spring Creek Drive in Guntersville with $1.9 million in state funds and $144,000 in local funds.
• Intersection improvements will be made at State Route 24 and South Greenway Drive in Trinity with $770,000 in state funds.

For more information about the ATRIP-II Program, visit https://www.dot.state.al.us/programs/ATRIPII.html