Not just "Skybridge": Huntsville's ambitious PARC project nears start
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The first bids for the project are set to go out in about 60 days. Image: Courtesy of city of Huntsville
Plans are essentially complete, permitting is underway and Huntsville is about 60 days away from bidding out the first phase of its ambitious pedestrian project known as the "Skybridge."
Why it matters: The project is set to change the face of Huntsville and could spur massive investment and redevelopment along a key corridor as the city continues to grow.
- "It's almost like a child graduating, you know, how finally it's going to happen," Shane Davis, Huntsville's director of urban and economic development, tells Axios Huntsville.
Zoom out: The Pedestrian Access and Redevelopment Corridor started in the early 2000s, when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers secured federal funding for a flood mitigation project along Pinhook Creek. Funding tightened up about 15 years ago, Davis said, and the city took over the project.
- Since then, it's grown in scope and in federal funding into the expansive Pedestrian Access and Redevelopment Corridor, which Davis described as "axle to the spoke of the wheel to the greenway and bike network."
Zoom in: Apart from the Skybridge portion, the project will construct two miles of linear parks and 6,000 feet of greenway.
- Three precast pedestrian bridges will be constructed over Pinhook Creek, which will also get 5,600 feet of channel excavation and 3,200 feet of low-flow channel.
- One concrete bridge will replace a wooden trestle bridge near Heart of Huntsville Drive.
- Davis said the project will also connect existing and other under-development infrastructure to establish pedestrian connections from Alabama A&M and UAH to downtown, to the Monte Sano trail system, Brahan Spring and John Hunt parks.
Between the lines: In actuality, the Skybridge is two bridges: one crossing Memorial Parkway and another crossing Governors Drive.
- The bridges will descend to ground level between the two roads, Davis said, near the city's $400 million Mill Creek redevelopment project, which is set to break ground next year.
- The Skybridge moniker emerged from public meetings and media coverage and has stuck. "It's like 20% of the project," Davis said. "It's a much, much bigger project than that."
Yes, but: It's still the most visible and striking part of the project so far, one that's set to become a defining image of Huntsville.
- "We want it to be value-add to our community," Davis said, "[We want] it to compete with some of the best cities in America for quality of life."
- That's why the city contracted with Rosales Partners on the design. The firm specializes in bridges and has tackled similar projects for Greenville, South Carolina and Atlanta.
What we're watching: The city hopes it — and the larger project — spur further investment and development, like the $350 million Front Row mixed-use development being constructed on the former Coca-Cola bottling plant on Clinton Avenue.
- Think Atlanta Beltline or Greenville's Swamp Rabbit Trail: pedestrian infrastructure that's served as a catalyst for commercial and residential development.
What's next: Total cost for the project is estimated between $50 million and $55 million, depending on how the bids come in, Davis said. About half that total is accounted for via grants.
- The plan is to release the entire PARC project in three bid packages, Davis said, with completion expected after 24 to 36 months of work.
- The bridges, including the Skybridge portion, will come in the second of three phases.