The people up in Gadsden are getting tired of the heavy traffic there. The solution was to extend I-759 through East Gadsden. The political leaders up there keep saying they are committed to getting this project done. But, according to an entry into the Federal Register, it looks like I-759 will never be extended. On a notice published on 8-29-2018, the Alabama Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration is rescinding Federal-aid project HPP-1602(539), the I-759 Extension, in Etowah County, Alabama.
The FHWA, in cooperation with the Alabama Department of Transportation, is rescinding the NOI to prepare an EIS for Federal-aid project HPP-1602(539). The proposed project was to construct a limited access roadway from the eastern terminus of Interstate Highway 759 (I-759) near George Wallace Drive to a proposed interchange with U.S. Highway 431 and U.S. Highway 278 in the city of Gadsden. The proposed project would have been a multi-lane roadway on a new location.
The NOI for the project was published in the Federal Register on October 4, 2004. The FHWA has determined, in conjunction with ALDOT, the NOI for the project shall be rescinded due to the numerous impacts under Section 4(f) to historic resources identified during the project’s environmental studies and opposition to Section 4(f) avoidance alternatives.
So this means the project will not happen due to historic buildings in the East Gadsden area. Now, in the future the project could be revived, but the extension will have to be built elsewhere. And this project was not the only project rescinded in Alabama. Other projects not happening include:
- I-85 West Alabama extension
- Memphis to Atlanta Freeway through North Alabama
- Dothan to I-10 Florida freeway connector
- Huntsville Southern Bypass
Welp, I guess this is what you get when no new revenues for infrastructure has been found since the gas tax was last raised in the early 1990’s. I guess you can hold your breath and hope our greedy legislators will do something eventually.
