(Image courtesy of Google maps)
While construction is progressing on an overpass at Bibb-Garrett Road in Decatur, Ala., its city council recently proposed building another interchange and overpass on Alabama Highway 20, a mile to the west of the first project.
The Decatur Daily reported Aug. 7 that the latest effort appears to have majority support from the council, but a vote on a resolution to spend almost $1 million on design work was tabled earlier in the month in the hopes of obtaining grant money to offset some of the cost.
The city council also approved pushing the completion date of the Bibb-Garrett overpass to next year. Originally scheduled to be finished in July, it is now projected to be completed on March 23, 2023, the Decatur news source noted. A six-month delay in the delivery of sanitary sewer pipe needed for the project precipitated the schedule change.
Latest Plan Faces Complications
A diverging diamond interchange is planned in the latest proposal and would be built at Calvary Assembly of God and Ala. 20.
There is no road for the interchange to connect to north of Ala. 20, which runs east to west in that area, though, and the only road to the south is Calvary Boulevard, a driveway for the church. The closest road to the north is the east-west Airport Road, a mile north of Calvary.
The church occupies about 50 acres of the 175 acres it owns south of the highway, all of which is outside the Decatur city limits, and is interested in selling the rest of its land for development. The land north of the proposed interchange is within the city of Decatur, about 26 mi. southwest of Huntsville.
Building a frontage road extending west from the Bibb-Garrett overpass is likely not feasible on the south side of Ala. 20, according to Decatur City Engineer Carl Prewitt, because Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) own land that borders the road to the south, just east of the Calvary property and west of the Bibb-Garrett overpass.
"I'm not saying that it can't be done, but it won't be easy," Prewitt said to the Daily.
A frontage road also would require the city to buy a mile-long strip of expensive land from property owners, he said.
Instead, Prewitt noted that the newly proposed interchange would likely tie into the 800-ft.-long Calvary Boulevard spur to the south, but he explained there is nothing for it to connect to north of Ala. 20.
He said the cost of the interchange would be "in the range of" the cost of constructing the $18 million Bibb-Garrett overpass. A federal grant is covering $14.2 million of that cost, and city officials plan to apply for a similar construction grant for the Calvary interchange once the design work is complete.
Development Potential is High
While Council President Jacob Ladner joined in the vote to table consideration of the expenditure until all grant options are explored, he expressed concern that delays could jeopardize development possibilities south of Ala. 20.
"I do think this is a priority for the simple reason that, especially [as concerns] the property on the south side of Ala. 20 there, if we did have a development, [like] residential, it will be tough going in that area without some type of access like this," he said. "We want that property to develop. I would still like to see some urgency on this project."
Decatur Mayor Tab Bowling said developers have approached the city expressing interest in land owned by Calvary Assembly east of the church building and south of Ala. 20. He told the Daily that he is hopeful an interchange would encourage commercial or residential development on the acreage, and that the land would be annexed into the Decatur city limits.
"We see it as a lure to annexation to the property to the east of Calvary, and [the church] may very well decide to come in too. But it's more about the property to the east of Calvary," Bowling said.
He also explained that the design work for the proposed interchange must be completed before the city can apply for a federal Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grant for construction costs.
Calvary Property Key to New Project
Rev. George Sawyer, the pastor of Calvary Assembly of God, said in an interview with the Decatur Daily on Aug. 5 that his church has indeed been approached by several prospective developers, each of whom mention access to an improved Ala. 20 as one of their chief concerns.
"The concept we'd love to see is live-work-play, an urban center somewhat like you see at Providence," Sawyer noted, referring to Village of Providence in Huntsville.
The current access at Ala. 20 makes that unworkable, he explained, as there is no traffic signal at the junction of the state highway and Calvary Boulevard, making a left turn toward Decatur hazardous. But he agreed that the wisdom and safety of a light at the intersection also is questionable because it would disrupt the already heavy traffic on Ala. 20.
Of course, those concerns would multiply with a large residential development on the south side of the roadway, and Sawyer said developers interested in the Calvary land know it.
While sympathetic with the concerns many Decatur City Council members have about funding the interchange, Sawyer told the Daily he suspects an interchange would have to exist, or at least be designed and have a construction timeline before a developer would make any kind of commitment.
"From conversations I've had, the developers want as many variables as possible to be eliminated before they invest a lot of money," he added.
One of those variables is the footprint of an eventual interchange. Developers need to know how much land and highway frontage they will lose to the interchange before they invest in anything, Sawyer said.
Prewitt said it would take approximately 30 months between when design efforts begin and construction of an interchange at Calvary is finished. That time lag has Ladner concerned, especially if a residential developer approaches the city, because "they can build houses a lot faster than an overpass."
While McMasters is reticent about spending almost $1 million to design a Calvary interchange, he views that and the overpass now under construction as worthwhile projects.
"We know that it's going to take one developer doing one project and we will have an explosion of growth north of the [Tennessee River]," he said. "We may be playing catch-up on some stuff. It's going to require another firehouse and more infrastructure, along with another access point farther to the west [of the Bibb-Garrett overpass]. All those are very real issues. It's just a matter of time and money."
'No Vision' From Some, Ladner Believes
Ladner told the Daily that said he has heard critics complaining that the Bibb-Garrett overpass is a "bridge to nowhere," because there is no commercial or residential development on either side of the Ala. 20 corridor, a complaint that also would apply to a Calvary interchange.
"My response to the 'bridge to nowhere' is that if you think that bridge [will lead] to nowhere, you have no vision," he asserted.
He added that, to him, it was obvious that the entire I-65/I-565 corridor, of which Ala. 20 is a part, will be developed one day.
"Whether [that happens] in a year or in 10 to 15 years, it's the right decision to [ensure] that access is there, from both a safety and development perspective. It's better to be proactive than to wait for something to come along."
In 2002, Decatur Utilities spent $2.4 million to lay sewer lines along Alabama 20. Then as now, officials believed development of the corridor was imminent. However, various development proposals have since fallen by the wayside.
"The difference now is the [Bibb-Garrett] overpass will provide access to that property and help boost the economy of north Alabama," Ladner said.
The land annexed by Decatur is north of the river in Limestone County and in City Councilman Kyle Pike's District 2. He agreed that an interchange west of the one currently being built is important.
He, like Sawyer and Ladner, said the interchange should undergo construction before a developer makes a specific proposal for the land.
"We know the time frame it takes to build those sorts of overpasses after dealing with the one that's [going up] now," he explained. "I think when the current overpass is done there is going to be more interest with that [Ala. 20] location being right along two interstates between Decatur and Huntsville. It's a huge opportunity."
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