The major connector to the nation’s second-largest research park is getting a $47 million facelift in a project where the cost will be split evenly between the state of Alabama and the city of Huntsville.

The city council on Thursday night approved a $23.4 million contract with Reed Contracting Services to widen a two-mile stretch of Research Park Boulevard as well as make interchange improvements at Old Madison Pike and University Drive.

The project is a part of Restore Our Roads – a $250 million investment by the city of Huntsville to get matching state funds for an array of road improvements across the Rocket City.

Research Park Boulevard connects Cummings Research Park to I-565 and the roadway also feeds into the busiest entrance to Redstone Arsenal.

The roadway, also known as Alabama Highway 255, is two lanes both northbound and southbound.

"There are about 60,000 vehicles per day on (Research Park Boulevard)," said Kathy Martin, director of the city's engineering department. "I think anybody that uses that road knows that they sit and wait for a long period of time. For that kind of volume, two lanes are just not sufficient."

The widening – adding one lane in each direction -- will begin just south of Old Madison Pike and stretch north to University Drive. The project also includes a new exit from Research Park Boulevard into MidCity – the mixed-use development at the site of the former Madison Square Mall – as well as a new bridge on Old Madison Pike crossing Research Park Boulevard and a new Bradford Drive northbound ramp.

Martin said the widening will build the new lanes in what's now the grassy median. The expectation is that the improved roadway will be able to handle up to 75,000 motorists per day, Martin said.

Construction on the widening won't begin until August and on the Old Madison Pike bridge in January 2020. The entire project is expected to be completed by late 2021.

Martin said Research Park Boulevard will have all lanes open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. during construction as contractors place concrete barriers on the inside shoulders to protect workers building the new lanes in the median.

The new Old Madison Pike bridge is described by the city as "decorative" and will have 10-foot multi-use lanes for pedestrians and bicyclists in each direction

The new exit ramp from Research Park Boulevard to MidCity will route traffic near the site of the proposed city-funded amphitheater. Martin said the exit ramp is expected to relieve congestion at the University Drive interchange.