Cecil Ashburn project underway, road will reopen November
HUNTSVILLE — Huntsville and Madison County drivers that frequent south Huntsville may have to find alternate routes to their destinations now that a portion of Cecil Ashburn Drive, a major road in the area, is closed for the next 10 months for roadwork.
The 3.4-mile project, a subcomponent of Huntsville’s “Restore Our Roads” initiative, entails the widening of Cecil Ashburn from two to four lanes, which the City of Huntsville said aims to accommodate more traffic. The two-lane road has seen an average of 17,000 cars traveling up and down it each day, generating a large volume of traffic for a road of its size. The project will also aim to improve safety in the area, as there have been about 800 accidents on the road since it opened in 2000.
Aside from the direct improvements to Cecil Ashburn, the project will see improvements to Sutton Road, between Taylor Road and Old Big Cove Road, to accommodate five lanes.
The area of closure stretches down Cecil Ashburn from Old Big Cove Road to Donegal Drive.
“The City of Huntsville’s goal is to finish these improvements as quickly as possible in hopes to restore travel on a safer, quicker and higher capacity route that connects East Huntsville’s Big Cove/Hampton Cove to Downtown Huntsville, Redstone Arsenal, Cummings Research Park and beyond,” reads an informational flyer from the City of Huntsville.
Businesses in the immediate area braced for a decreased inflow of customers with the project underway, and some of them are already feeling the effects of the closure. The owner of Yogurt Mountain in Jones Valley even opened an additional location near Hampton Cove in preparation for the closure. Others are considering taking their product to the customer.
Though part of Cecil Ashburn will be closed until November, the entire project is estimated to take about 18 months to complete. November will only see two lanes reopen as the City works to complete the project.
The City of Huntsville suggested three alternate routes in the meantime for those traveling west from the Big Cove/Hampton Cove area: U.S. 431/Governor’s Drive via Governor’s Drive, U.S. Highway 72 via Eastern Bypass/Rock Cut Road, and South Memorial Parkway/U.S. 231 via Hobbs Island Road.
“Please remember the alternate routes and plan ahead the next few months,” Huntsville Police encouraged in a tweet the day of the road closure.
(Photo: @HsvPolice on Twitter)
The City also reminded drivers that traffic laws will be “strictly enforced” and that they should expect delays and plan for additional time during busy morning and evening hours. Anyone involved in an accident should move all vehicles involved to the shoulder unless they have been injured in the accident.
For more information or to stay up to date on traffic and roadwork related to the Cecil Ashburn project, visit huntsvilleal.gov/cecil. Other road updates will be noted on huntsvilleal.gov/roadworkupdates. Twitter users can search #HsvRoads for updates as well.
