HUNTSVILLE, Alabama - The city has changed its approach to widening Zierdt Road, which could shave two or three years off the project's estimated completion date.

Last fall officials expected the work to widen the road to four lanes from Madison Boulevard to south of Martin Road to begin in 2014 and last two or three years.

Now, the city has decided to do the $14 million project in three phases with an estimated completion date of mid-2015.

"We're breaking Zierdt Road out and we're going to do it in multiple phases to get it done quicker," City Engineer Shane Davis said Friday.

Breaking the project into three phases allows work to begin on the first phase while preliminary work on the third phase is under way. If done in one phase, construction wouldn't start on any part of the project until all of the preliminary work was completed.

Here is how the city plans to build the road, according to Davis:

>> The city hopes this fall to begin clearing and grubbing the right-of-way on the east side of Zierdt Road and to move the Redstone Arsenal fence farther east. The work is expected to take about six months.

>> Next spring, a contract is expected to be awarded to build the two new northbound lanes on the east side of the existing road. That should take about a year to complete.

Right of way on the west side of the road will be bought while the northbound lanes are under construction.

>> When the new northbound lanes are finished, traffic in both directions will be moved to the new lanes while the existing two lanes are rebuilt to eventually become the two southbound lanes.

The pedestrian and bicycle greenway on the west side of the road will be built when the existing lanes are rebuilt.

At a September public hearing on the project, bicycling enthusiasts were unhappy that the bike and pedestrian lane was placed on the west side where there are 22 "conflict points" with driveways, streets and development entrances.

Bicyclists prefer the greenway be built on the undeveloped east side that would provide unobstructed flow for bikers commuting to and from work on Redstone Arsenal.

Engineers with Garver LLC, which is designing the project, explained that the greenway was placed on the west side of the road to prevent everyone from having to cross a four-lane road from west to east to reach the greenway.

The City Council recently amended a contract with Garver LLC to update and prepare the plans for the widening.

The updated plans will be for clearing and grubbing the right-of-way, moving utilities and placing a new security fence on Redstone Arsenal on the east side of the road where the new northbound lanes will be built.

The additional work by Garver will include verifying the original base survey points, identifying any new buildings with corners within 50 feet of the proposed right-of-way, and identifying any new utilities or drainage features installed since the original survey.

Almost all of the right-of-way to be acquired will be in the form of a permanent easement from the Department of Defense. The easement will be on Redstone Arsenal on the east side of the road.

The contract change added $79,365 to the contract, bringing Garver's contract total to $928,085.

To leave a comment or question about traffic or roads, contact Keith Clines at 256-532-4236, email keith.clines@htimes.com, tweet @KeithClines or fax 256-532-4420.