Old Madison Pike reopens
Huntsville Engineering Department issued this rendering of road construction on Old Madison Pike when a segment of the roadway was closed for construction in 2014. Old Madison Pike will reopen around 1 p.m. on Sept. 25. (Contributed/Huntsville Engineering Department)
MADISON – Many longtime residents doubted this day would ever materialize, but the wait is over. A redesigned section of Old Madison Pike, adjacent to Madison City Limits, will reopen on Sept. 25.
The long-awaited project has widened Old Madison Park from two lanes to four lanes between Slaughter Road and Jan Davis Drive/Diamond Drive. The narrow bridge over Indian Creek has been replaced.
Alabama Department of Transportation closed this section of Old Madison Pike on March 10, 2014. Originally, the completion date was slated for June 2015.
On Sept. 25 at 11:30 a.m., Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle and Alabama Department of Transportation employees will walk from Jan Davis Drive to Slaughter Road. At 12:15 p.m., Huntsville officials will officially open Old Madison Pike to motorists.
While the roadway was under construction, motorists had to find alternate routes driving west from Huntsville to enter Madison or when traveling east to Huntsville. Accessible from Slaughter Road, Farrow Drive was a primary entry jog to Cummings Research Park.
In addition, westbound Madison traffic took Madison Boulevard to Governors West to access research park and Bridge Street area.
Popular with walking enthusiasts, Indian Creek Greenway’s entrance was closed on Old Madison Pike during construction. Individuals entered the greenway from Creekwood subdivision at the intersection of Slaughter Road and Maple Valley Drive.
Fortunately, students traveling to campus with Madison City Schools were not affected drastically. Horizon Elementary School is the campus closest to construction and wasn’t directly inconvenienced, although traffic patterns to Horizon from nearby neighborhoods did need to detour.
For information about Madison roadways, visit the City of Madison website at madisonal.gov.
