HUNTSVILLE, Alabama - Alabama Department of Transportation Director John Cooper offered Monday to earmark $125 million over five years to improve traffic flow in the Huntsville area.

To get the money, the city would have to provide a dollar-for-dollar match.

"We've never, to my knowledge, proposed anything like this, and certainly not of this scale," Cooper said during a lunchtime speech at the Huntsville-Madison County Chamber of Commerce. "This is very un-ALDOT- like, very abnormal. But I think it fits the situation."

"We believe it would be transformative."

While Cooper's cost-sharing offer will have to be vetted by the City Council, Mayor Tommy Battle said he supports the idea and believes it would cement Huntsville's place as a regional employment and retail hub. Battle said he hopes to announce a plan Thursday for how the city could generate the $125 million in matching funds.

"It's paramount on our community that we do this if we want to maintain the same quality of life," Battle told AL.com after Cooper's talk.

"These roads present a game changer and a generational opportunity to take care of Huntsville's major transportation projects for the next 20 years. We must do our part to see that construction can begin right away."

The ALDOT offer caps a dramatic year that saw the state delay funding for more than a dozen key local road projects due to declining gasoline taxes. Battle responded with a series of critical "Restore Our Roads" news conferences but has also been meeting privately with Cooper and Gov. Robert Bentley to come up with a solution to Huntsville's road needs.

If the city accepts Cooper's offer, ALDOT is recommending that the combined $250 million be used for the following road projects:

An additional westbound lane on U.S. 72 East from Shields Road over Chapman Mountain to Maysville Road. That work would start in 2014. Estimated cost: $9 million.

Connect Epworth Drive to Maysville Road and close the Epworth-U.S. 72 East interchange that has been the site of several wrecks. Cost $5 million. Timeframe: 2014.

New Memorial Parkway overpasses at Byrd Spring and Lily Flagg roads, along with service roads and an improved Martin Road interchange. Cost: $64.5 million. Timeframe: 2015.

Six-lane U.S. 72 West between Providence Main Street and County Line Road. Cost: $30 million. Timeframe: 2016.

Complete the next leg of the Northern Bypass along Bob Wade Lane from Pulaski Pike to the Parkway. Cost: $20 million. Timeframe: 2017.

New Memorial Parkway overpass at Mastin Lake Road, including improvements to the main lanes from Sparkman Drive to north of Mastin Lake. Cost: $53 million. Timeframe: 2017.

Widen and upgrade Cecil Ashburn Drive around the Carl T. Jones Drive and U.S. 431 intersections. Cost $15 million. Timeframe: 2017.

Intersection upgrades and "access management" improvements such as adaptive traffic signals on the Parkway between Weatherly and Hobbs roads. Cost: $15 million. Timeframe: 2017.

Cooper said that would leave $38.5 million available in the 2018 budget year for other needs such as widening Alabama 53 north of Jeff Road and adding extra lanes on Interstate 565.

Speaking to local elected leaders and Huntsville/Madison County Leadership program alumni, Cooper said ALDOT's gasoline tax revenue has been dwindling since 1997 due to a combination of more fuel efficient vehicles and people driving less. The average Alabama family now spends about three times more each month on cell phones that they pay in gas taxes to maintain state roads, he said.

The ALDOT of old that covered the state with new highways is mostly a "memory," said Cooper, replaced by an agency focused on maintaining existing roads.

ALDOT has about $150 million available to spend each year on new road construction spread across 67 counties.

"It's true we're not able to provide you what you need," Cooper told the Huntsville audience. "But you're not being discriminated against because the entire state is in the same situation."

Huntsville City Councilman Will Culver liked what he heard from Cooper and said he is willing to consider any "reasonable idea" for coming up with the $125 million in matching money.

Updated at 2:24 p.m. with additional comments from John Cooper, Tommy Battle and Huntsville City Councilman Will Culver.