Dr. Noel Estopinal saw the lack of a shoulder and traffic risk inherent for pedestrians along the current route up Bankhead Parkway. Photo: Derek Lacey/Axios
Tollgate Greenway is just the latest trail project for the city, which has wheels turning behind the scenes on dozens of miles of additional trails.
They're also draws for new transplants that can help employers retain talent moving to Huntsville.
State of play: Huntsville has more than 46 miles of greenways in place and 38.5 miles of proposed greenway for the next 1 to 5 years, according to Dennis Madsen, the city's manager of urban and long range planning.
There's also over 173 miles of visionary greenways for more than five years out, he said, and those numbers don't include bike lanes or other trails.
Also nearing construction work is the 1.8-mile Meek Greenway connecting Stallworth Drive at Alabama A&M to Highway 73, for which City Council recently earmarked $1.78 million.
Driving the news: As Huntsville prepares to welcome Space Command, projects like Tollgate Greenway make a difference.
Context: Dr. Noel Estopinal, who moved to Huntsville nearly 40 years ago, spoke firsthand Thursday about why he's still a resident decades later.
"We stayed here because of the quality of life in the community," he said. "And this type of project only builds on that."
What they're saying: "We're going to have a lot of new people from the east and west coast coming to our fair city," Estopinal said. "It's going to be the job that brings them, but it's going to be the quality of life and community that holds (them)."
