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HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – If you’ve driven down Madison Boulevard near I-565 you know there is a lot of construction taking place on and near Zierdt Road.

If you work at Redstone Arsenal or live off of Zierdt Road you may have noticed something different. Wednesday night crews shifted traffic to the new northbound lanes from the Madison Boulevard all the way down near the Edgewater intersection.

Updating Zeirdt Road has been a project 15 years in the making.

“A lot of development has occurred over the past 20 years, a lot of residential development but also access to Redstone Arsenal. They have also grown and that’s one of their main gates,” said Huntsville Director of Engineering, Kathy Martin.

Crews entered the fourth and final phase of the project back in October. They were slowed by wet weather.

The Zierdt Road project spans from Madison Boulevard to Martin Road.

Drivers may have noticed crews working on the Madison Boulevard side of the project earlier this month.

“That intersection gets raised about 6 feet. There was a significant amount of utility conflicts that needed to be relocated and those utilities were actually directly tied to Redstone Arsenal and so it took significant time,” said Martin.

By the time the project is over, Zierdt Road is going to be able to accommodate a lot more traffic. There will be a four-lane divided highway.

New lanes on the northbound side of the road have been constructed and paved, but they have been closed to traffic for several months. That changed Wednesday night when traffic was diverted so crews could begin work on the south side of the road.

“That area has been cleared of all utilities and they can do some additional work on the old southbound lanes,” said Martin.

Many people walk, run, and ride their bikes on the new northbound lanes. City officials want to remind people that this area is an active construction site. Slow down for crews and to obey all traffic signs.

The entire project is scheduled to be complete sometime in mid-2020.

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