Purpose

Wally Terry, Transportation Task Force Chair.

The purpose of this task is to identify transportation issues and needs in the primary study area with particular attention to the road corridors serving the Arsenal. Operational growth at the Arsenal, coupled with community growth around the Arsenal, will add to the automobile and truck traffic in the region. Sensible growth management emphasizes planning necessary improvements now in order to minimize congestion and safety problems in the future. These issues impact the quality of life of the region’s residents, efficacy of operations of the region’s businesses, and operations at the Arsenal.

While this RFP task description discusses only road related transportation, if appropriate, the Consultant Team will address other transportation needs identified during our research, particularly air service at Huntsville International Airport.

Research

In preparing the analysis for this task, the Consultant Team will take maximum advantage of other relevant and recent work including:

A detailed assessment of the Madison County area recently prepared by the Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County and its consultant, The Wadley-Donovan Group;
Ongoing transportation planning by the Metropolitan Planning Organization in the region; and
The April 2007 report “Huntsville Area BRAC Transfers: Economic and Transportation Impact Assessment” commissioned by the City of Huntsville.

The Consultant Team will submit to the Project Director and Advisory Committee a request for all other available materials relevant to transportation systems and needs in the primary study area. Upon receipt and review of this material, we will identify additional information that would be useful for this task. We will discuss with planning officials, public works directors, and/or other sources as deemed appropriate from the primary study area the most efficient method for obtaining this information and then take the necessary steps to secure it.

During interviews conducted as part of TASK 1 – ISSUE IDENTIFICATION AND ASSESSMENT OF EXISTING CONDITIONS, we will include the identification of other potential transportation issues such as the adequacy of service at Huntsville International Airport. Interviews with officials at Redstone Arsenal will also include discussions regarding this topic.

A particular area of study will be the Southern Bypass through Redstone Arsenal and the proposed I-30 link between Memphis, Tennessee, and Atlanta, Georgia. We will evaluate the impacts of these new roadways on the movement of people and goods, especially those traveling to the Arsenal.

We will review available traffic counts and level of service ratings of all major roadways in the primary study area and prepare a spreadsheet summarizing pertinent findings. Roadways at or approaching capacity will be identified along with estimated cost ranges for improvements. Identification of recommended transportation improvements will reflect anticipated development and changing land uses identified in TASK 3 – REGIONAL LAND USE AND GROWTH PATTERNS.

Work Products