A ceremonial ribbon cutting at a Huntsville business turned into a flashpoint of politics Wednesday as Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle raised concern over the widening of nearby Interstate 565.

And Gov. Kay Ivey, sitting on the stage as Battle spoke, then jumped from her seat to reiterate her comments made last month in Huntsville that the highway project is a "priority" for her.

Meanwhile, planning report documents on the Alabama Department of Transportation website indicate that the widening of I-565 is decades away with the earliest construction on the project scheduled for 2043. Other parts of the I-565 project are scheduled to begin as late as 2050, according to the documents.

The discussion about the interstate spur from I-65 into Huntsville made for a tense interlude amid the series of speeches at GE Aviation, a high-tech facility manufacturing revolutionary lightweight composites used in jet engines that will ultimately employ about 300 people. The composites can be developed for an array of uses, GE said.

Afterward the speeches and the formal ribbon cutting, Ivey told reporters that she spoke unprompted during the program about I-565 to "set the record straight" after Battle's comments.

Battle, of course, is one of three Republicans challenging Ivey for the GOP nomination in the June 5 gubernatorial primary.

Gov. Kay Ivey and Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle together on stage at ribbon cutting event at GE Aviation in Huntsville on Wednesday, May 9, 2018. (Paul Gattis/pgattis@al.com)

Ivey had already taken her turn at the podium, speaking for about six minutes in commending GE Aviation for its investment in Alabama and praising the state's workforce.

Battle followed with similar comments before bringing up the issue of widening I-565. He called out to state Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, who was sitting in the audience. Orr's district includes parts of I-565 and he is a member of the legislature's General Fund committee.

Battle outlined recent development projects that are anticipated to significantly raise the amount of traffic on I-565 - including the Mazda Toyota Manufacturing USA facility that is expected to create about 10,000 direct and indirect jobs - to demonstrate the need for the expansion.

"And one other thing, as we come out of here, we all recognize that I-565 is - where's Arthur Orr?" Battle said. "Arthur, 565 is going to be a key for us. We're going to have to take care of 565. The growth (at GE Aviation), the growth from Toyota, the growth from Polaris. We are going to have more and more traffic on that road.

"I know all the employees who come in early in the morning and go out late at night and get into the middle of that quagmire (that is I-565), that every one of you is going to make sure at some point that we get on the ball and get that done. And Arthur, I pledge you my support to make sure that gets done."

Seconds later, Battle concluded his remarks and stepped away from the podium. At that point, Ivey left her chair on the stage and returned to the microphone.

She began speaking while the audience was still applauding Battle's comments.

"Let me just remind you that at the Huntsville Chamber of Commerce last night, I announced that I-565 would be a high priority and they are accepting bids this month on reconstructing the interchange at the Greenbrier interchange," Ivey said. "I-565 is a high priority."

I-565 is among what are perceived as three critical roadways that officials have said need significant expansion. The widening of I-65 south of Birmingham in Shelby County is already underway and the new bridge on I-10 in Mobile is competing with I-565 for funding.

The remodeled interchange - which will connect Greenbrier Parkway with I-565 to the south and I-65 to the north - that Ivey spoke of will not affect the traffic bottleneck where traffic backs up as I-565 shrinks to two lanes in each direction as it nears I-65.

The interchange improvements at Greenbrier, according to the ALDOT planning report, is scheduled for 2018 at a cost of about $11.5 million.

In meeting with reporters following the ribbon cutting at GE Aviation, Ivey explained why she returned to the podium to speak about I-565.

"I made that announcement at the chamber of commerce in Huntsville over a month ago," Ivey said. "Because I-565 is congested now but looking to the future with Toyota Mazda, it's even going to be more so. So advanced planning is always prudent. I just wanted to clear the air because I made the announcement that it was going to be a high priority and it is and I made that announcement at the Huntsville chamber of commerce last month."

When asked by WHNT's Brian Lawson about the distant construction dates, Ivey asked about the date of the ALDOT report. The report does not include a date but are the most current documents on the ALDOT website. Ivey said she believed the report came from 2016.

The ALDOT document, however, includes the renovation of the Greenbrier interchange on I-565 - a project necessitated by the Mazda Toyota plant - announced in January -- that will be located at that exit. The interchange improvements, which Ivey spoke of Wednesday, are scheduled to be done this year.

"I-565 is a high priority," Ivey repeated in response to the question about the ALDOT report. "They're starting work on it as we speak. And we'll move right ahead. We've already started on I-65 moving north."

Pressed on what a "priority" is about I-565, Ivey said, "It means we're going to do it as fast as we can. It's a big project and you've got to plan well and 565 will be addressed in a timely fashion. And, yes, you have to plan to make monies available because there's not a bucket of money just sitting there. You've got to shift and make priorities. And we're in that process and we will continue."

Asked if she expected the dates on the ALDOT document to move up, Ivey said, "I would hope so. I plan for it to."

Ivey said moving I-565 up the list ahead of the I-10 bridge "has not been discussed so I can't comment on that right now."

In an interview with AL.com last year, Orr said it was "imperative" that I-565 be widened within the next five years.

"It's that important," Orr said in November 2017 - two months before Mazda Toyota Manufacturing became the state's largest economic development.

U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks also sent a letter to Ivey in March, urging her to shepherd along the widening of I-565. Brooks' congressional district includes I-565.