Chynoweth monitors, fixes traffic problems

Chynoweth said Hughes Road will eventually be turned into a five-lane street.

As many may already know, the traffic concern in Madison is growing just as quick as its population.

The morning and evening traffic is enough to send anyone into a frenzy. The city’s engineering department is responsible for overseeing the city’s transportation and drainage systems. Gary Chynoweth is director of that department.

He said the departments spend most of its time dealing with the roads in Madison.

“If people can’t get home, and to and from work on time, they get a little upset and they let you know,” Chynoweth said. “Rather than fighting that fight, we restudy the problem and see if we can come up with solutions without hurting the residential areas.”

Chynoweth said the city had a plan that projected how much traffic would be on the streets when the city grew. He said the problem with the plan was that Madison grew so fast, that the 2005 population was  the projected population for 2025, and the demand for road service came before the city had an opportunity to pay for it.

“When I came to work here in 2005, we were in a deep hole,” he said, “ There were issues we had to recognize and fix.”

Since 2005, the engineering department has extended Gillespie Road from County Line to Balch; Eastview to Hughes; and  from Wall Triana and Balch extension to Browns Ferry.

He said Hughes Road was originally planned to be the bypass through Madison, around the Wall Triana developments. He also said Hughes and Old Madison Pike were intended to be five-lane roads, but were built to be a three-lane road because of resident complains.

“[Residents] thought a bigger road would bring more traffic, but that wasn’t the case,” he said. “Traffic comes as a population grows, and now it’s over capacity. Most of the public that drives on that road knows it has to be bigger.”

He said the steps to take now are to evaluate ways to fix the problem in way that would serve as many people as possible, while appeasing the residents.

He said the council is trying to balance the needs of the city with the wants of the citizens.

“That’s the reality of politics in any municipal job,” he said. “The fix has to be politically doable, which means it has to have public support. The city council is always faced with that challenge because no one comes to the meetings and supports the projects.

The day is coming where we will have to five-lane the rest of Hughes Road, he added.  He said the city does have a list of projects that would fix the traffic “nuisances,” and are currently looking for funding to add more traffic lanes.

“There’s more traffic than the streets can handle,” he said.

Raised in Florence, Chynoweth graduated Auburn University in 1975 with a degree in civil engineering. Since then, he said he has had a variety of experience working for contractors and engineers. He was in a private practice for 16 years, before becoming a city employee in 2005.

“My experience already matched what the city was looking for,” he said. “I was familiar with the drainage systems and roads already.”

Chynoweth had Polio at a child. He said the state paid for his books and tuition to Auburn through a program that assisted the handicapped.

“I consider my job as payback to the state,” he said. “I’m having a blast because I have such great bosses. It just makes my job easy when I’ve got the support I do with both the council and the mayors.”