Huntsville, the highway, and urban redevelopment: The long road to connect downtown Huntsville, Alabama to the interstate highway system

Journal of Planning History

Volumn 11, Issue 1, 2012, Pages 27-46

  Cannon, Joshua ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM   (United States)

Author keywords

Decentralization; Freeway revolt; Interstate highway system; Transportation planning; Urban redevelopment

Indexed keywords

FEDERAL SYSTEM; METROPOLITAN AREA; MOTORWAY; REDEVELOPMENT; URBAN DEVELOPMENT;

ALABAMA; HUNTSVILLE; UNITED STATES;

EID: 84857211957     PISSN: 15385132     EISSN: 15526585     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/1538513211425205     Document Type: Article

References (156)

1. Alabama Highways in the Modern Era-The Interstate System (Alabama Department of Transportation, n.d.), http://alletting.dot.state.al.us/OfficeEngineer/Docs/IndianTrailsChapter5.pdf.
2. "History Behind Importance of Memphis-to-Atlanta Highway," The Huntsville News January 14, 1993.
3. Congress authorized funding for construction of the Interstate Highway System through the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956, also known as The National Interstate and Defense Highways Act. For background on the Interstate Highway System.
4. Mark H. Rose, Interstate: Express Highway Politics, 1939-1989, rev. ed. (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1990).
5. U.S. Department of Transportation Web sites. Highway History (Federal Highway Administration, n.d.), http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/history.cfm.
6. History of the Interstate Highway System (Federal Highway Administration, n.d.), http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/interstate/history.htm.
7. For Huntsville population figures and changes.
8. "City's Biggest Boom Came in 1950s, 1960s," The Huntsville Times 20 (April 2008).
9. 1970 Preliminary Census Report (Huntsville, AL: Huntsville Planning Commission, March 1971).
10. Population Estimate of the City of Huntsville by Neighborhood (Huntsville Planning Commission, March 1973).
11. Monique Laney, "Operation Paperclip in Huntsville, Alabama," in Remembering the Space Age, ed. Steven J. Dick (2008), 89-108.
12. Project I-565(1): I-65 to Huntsville & Madison Counties, Ala, Vol. 1 (Alabama State Highway Department, November 1975), 156.
13. Bob Jones Congressional Papers-Natural Resources, Power, Highways, Helen Keller - Box #39, File 706, University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) M. Louis Salmon Library Archives and Special Collections.
14. "What Comes After 1972", in Highway History (Federal Highway Administration, n.d.), http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/50after1972.cfm.
15. Raymond A. Mohl, "The Interstates and the Cities: The U.S. Department of Transportation and the Freeway Revolt, 1966-1973," The Journal of Policy History 20, no. 2 (2008).
16. Raymond A. Mohl, "Urban Expressways and the Racial Restructuring of Postwar American Cities," Jahrbuch fur Wirtschafts 2 (2001): 91, 104.
17. Peter R. Gluck and Richard J. Meister, Cities in Transition: Social Changes and Institutional Responses in Urban Development (New York: New Viewpoints, 1979), 146-149.
18. For background on the early pattern of urban expressway construction in light of postwar city decline, the Freeway Revolt, and subsequent legislative changes.
19. Raymond A. Mohl, Ike and the Interstates: Creeping toward Comprehensive Planning," Journal of Planning History 2 (August 2003): 237-262.
20. Mohl, "The Interstates and the Cities," 192-226.
21. Gregory L. Thompson, "How Portland's Power Brokers Accommodated the Anti-Highway Movement of the Early 1970s: The Decision to Build Light Rail," Business and Economic History Online 3 (2005).
22. Joseph F. C. DiMento, "Arterie urbane: tre diversi esperimenti nelle cittàamericane" ["UrbanFreeways: Three Different City Tales"], Storia Urbana 69 (2009).
23. The Battle of New Orleans-Vieux Carré Riverfront Expressway (I-310) (Federal Highway Administration, n.d.), http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/neworleans.cfm.
24. Raymond A. Mohl, "Stop the Road: Freeway Revolts in American Cities," Journal of Urban History 30 (July 2004).
25. Mohl, "The Interstates and the Cities."
26. For details on the creation of NASA and Huntsville's specific role.
27. Andrew J. Dunar and Stephen P. Waring, Power to Explore: A History of Marshall Space Flight Center, 1960-1990 (Washington, DC: NASA History Office, 1999).
28. For population figure sources, see note 2 above.
29. Mohl, "Ike and the Interstates".
30. Mohl, "Urban Expressways".
31. "Drop Continues in Transit Riders," Birmingham Age-Herald, 16 (December 1953).
32. "City's transit ills are common in other U.S. towns," Birmingham News, 15 (April 1952).
33. "Many Cities Find Transit Business A Bumpy One," Birmingham Post Herald, 8 (April 1952).
34. "Section 6: Public Transportation Element," Year 2035 Transportation-Huntsville Area Transportation Study, prepared by the City of Huntsville Planning Division in Cooperation with the Bureau of Transportation Planning, Alabama Department of Transportation, March 2010; Update of Public Transportation Feasibility Study, Huntsville Alabama, Transportation Center, The University of Tennessee, January 1989, 18.
35. Letter from highway director Ray Bass to FHWA division administrator R. B. Gillette, 2-3 (dated August 11, 1976), in Bob Jones Papers - Box #39, File 695; Project I-565(1), Vol. 1 (Alabama State Highway Department), 9-10, 168-70; Plan Reevaluation-Huntsville Area Transportation Study (Alabama State Highway Department and the Bureau of Urban Planning, January 1972); "Spur Will Become Defining Landmark," The Huntsville Times, October 24, 1991; Letter from Harry L. Pennington, Chairman of the Highway Committee of the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce, to Bob Jones, dated March 24, 1969, in Bob Jones Papers - Box #39, File 706.
36. Mohl, "The Interstates and the Cities," 195.
37. Mohl, "Stop the Road," 674-706.
38. Project I-565(1), Vol. 1 (Alabama State Highway Department), 9-10.
39. Mohl, "The Interstates and the Cities," 197-178.
40. Unified Works Program: 1977 & 1978 (Huntsville Area Transportation Study, City of Huntsville Planning Commission, 1978).
41. A Brief History of Metropolitan Planning Organizations (Compass Community Planning Association of Southwest Idaho, n.d.), http://www.compassidaho.org/documents/about/MPOhistory.pdf.
42. Mohl, "The Interstates and the Cities," 198-199.
43. Department of Transportation Act: Declaration and Purpose of Section 4(f), As Amended. (U.S. National Park Service, n.d.), Printed October 15, 2010, http://www.nps.gov/history/local-law/fhpl_dotact.pdf; Environment: Section 4(f). (Federal Highway Administration, n.d.), http://www.environment.fhwa.dot.gov/4f/index.asp.
44. Mohl, "The Interstates and the Cities," 206.
45. Mohl, "The Interstates and the Cities,"., 213.
46. "Spur Decision Appears Sure to Bring Suits," The Huntsville Times, November 5, 1974.
47. For more on the'73 Highway Act and the consequences the highway legislation of this period had for mass transportation generally.
48. Edward Weiner, Urban Transportation Planning in the United States: An Historical Overview (rev. and expanded ed.; Connecticut: Praeger, 1999).
49. Gregory L. Thompson, "How Portland's Power Brokers Accommodated the Anti-Highway Movement of the Early 1970s: The Decision to Build Light Rail," Business and Economic History Online 3 (2005): 7-8, accessed October 20, 2010, http://www.hnet.org/*business/bhcweb/publications/BEHonline/2005/thompson.pdf.
50. Project I-565(1), Vol. 1 (Alabama State Highway Department), 9-14, 156; See also Project I-565(1), Vols. 2, 4 (Alabama State Highway Department).
51. Project I-565(1), Vol. 1 (Alabama State Highway Department), 8-12.
52. "Full Range of Backing, Opposition Hears Spur Talks," The Huntsville Times, November 14, 1972.
53. "Officials Taken Aback: Spur Draws Boos, Cheers from 800," Huntsville News, November 14, 1972.
54. For this and other antispur letters to the editor, including letters from Alabama Conservancy Head spokesman, Rowland Burns and his wife Cathy, see: Huntsville News Editorial Page, November 18-22, 1972.
55. Donna Crosby, "I-565: The Huntsville Spur," Right of Way V. 34, no. 3 (June 1987), 13+15.
56. Interview with Cathy Burns, April 20, 2010; Project I-565(1), Vol. 1 (Alabama State Highway Department), 8-13.
57. Huntsville City Council Resolution No. 74-336, November 4, 1974, Clerk-Treasurer Records, City Hall of Huntsville; "Spur Decision Appears Sure to Bring Suits," The Huntsville Times, November 5, 1974; Ray Bass letter to R. B. Gillette, August 4, 11, 1976, in Bob Jones Papers-Box #39, File 695.
58. "I-565: The Other Side," The Huntsville Times, August 12, 1976.
59. "Member of Wallace's 'Kitchen Cabinet' is key to I-565 Spur Route," Birmingham Post Herald, March 1, 1976.
60. Telephone interview with Jane Mabry, April 19, 2010.
61. "Plan to Divert Road Funds Appears Headed for Defeat," The Huntsville Times (August 4, 1976).
62. H. A. Jones and P. S. Jones, Public Transportation Feasibility Study for Huntsville (Alabama: Stanford Research Institute at Huntsville, September 1976).
63. Update of Public Transportation Feasibility Study (Huntsville Alabama: Transportation Center, The University of Tennessee, January 1989): 6.
64. Project I-565(1), Vol. 1 (Alabama State Highway Department), 166-167.
65. Weiner, Urban Transportation Planning in the United States: An Historical Overview, 100-101.
66. "Law May Renew Dispute on I-565," The Huntsville Times (August 1, 1976).
67. Project I-565(1), Vol. 1 (Alabama State Highway Department), 167.
68. "Spur Decision Appears Sure to Bring Suits," The Huntsville Times (November 5, 1974).
69. "Plan to Divert Road Funds Appears Headed for Defeat," The Huntsville Times (August 4, 1976).
70. "Law May Renew Dispute on I-565," The Huntsville Times (August 1, 1976).
71. "Committee May Be Asked to Consider 565 Vote Again," The Huntsville Times (February 11, 1976).
72. Unified Works Program, City of Huntsville Planning Commission; A Brief History of Metropolitan Planning Organizations, Compass Community Planning Association of Southwest Idaho.
73. "Wallace gives new boost to I-565 spur road plan," Birmingham Post Herald (April 10, 1976).
74. "Saucier explains MPO structure," The Huntsville Times (May 3, 1976).
75. "I-565 Is Not Dead," The Huntsville Times 13 (February 1976).
76. "Not Everyone Wanted I-565 Through City," The Huntsville Times October 24, 1991.
77. "I-65 Spur and the Courts," Huntsville Times November 3, 1974.
78. Project I-565(1), Vol. 4 (Alabama State Highway Department), Sec. J, p. 8.
79. "Spur Hearing to be hot," Huntsville News, n.d., in: Alabama-Roads-Highways Clipping Folder, Heritage Room, Huntsville-Madison County Public Library; Telephone Interview with Cathy Burns, April 20, 2010; Interstate I-565 - Madison and Limestone Counties: An Evaluation of the Urban Interstate Problem Based on a Specific Model Volume in Detailed Considerations, Huntsville Chapter: Alabama Conservancy, in association with The Alabama Conservancy, 1974, located in: Heritage Room, Huntsville-Madison County Public Library.
80. Letter from DOI assistant secretary to Alabama highway engineer, W. R. Glass, dated May 13, 1973 in Project I-565(1), Vol. 3 (Alabama State Highway Department), Sec. A, 14-5.
81. Letter from E. C. Moore to W. R. Glass, dated October 12, 1972 in Project I-565(1), Vol. 3 (Alabama State Highway Department), Sec. A, 20.
82. "Minority Position of the Huntsville City Council on I-565," in Project I-565(1), Vol. 1 (Alabama State Highway Department), Sec. B, 11.
83. "Social and Cultural Impact Study," in Project I-565(1), Vol. 4 (Alabama State Highway Department), Sec. G.
84. "I-565 Dispute Broadened, as Federal Agency Jumps," in The Huntsville Times August 8, 1976.
85. "Decision on Huntsville's Controversial I-65 Spur Expected Soon," Birmingham Post-Herald January 25, 1978.
86. "Crawford Critical of Spur Section; No Delay Foreseen," Huntsville Times August 5, 1976.
87. "Not Everyone Wanted I-565 Through City," The Huntsville Times October 24, 1991.
88. "Spur Hearing to be hot," Huntsville News
89. Project I-565(1), Vol. 1 (Alabama State Highway Department), 156.
90. Ray Bass letter to R. B. Gillette, August 1976, in Bob Jones Papers-Box #39, File 695.
91. Project I-565(1), Vol. 1 (Alabama State Highway Department), 161+165-166.
92. "Key Design Changes in Downtown Section of I-565 Spur Eyed," The Huntsville Times May 30, 1982.
93. "Member of Wallace's 'Kitchen Cabinet' is key to I-565 Spur Route," Birmingham Post Herald March 1, 1976.
94. Project I-565(1), Vol. 4 (Alabama State Highway Department), sec. G, 102-103.
95. "Chamber Begins Push to Show I-565 Support," The Huntsville Times August 12, 1976.
96. "'No Growth' critics threaten spur project," Huntsville News August 14, 1976.
97. "Let's get on with the spur," Huntsville News August 16, 1976.
98. "I-565 Decision Is Expected Soon After Rights Team Report Studied," The Huntsville Times September 4, 1977.
99. "I-565 Decision Is Expected Soon After Rights Team Report Studied," The Huntsville Times September 4, 1977.
100. Project I-565(1): Madison County, Relocation Plan, Jordan Lane to Jackson Way (Alabama State Highway Department, August 1980), 1-2.
101. "Social and Cultural Impact Study," in Project I-565(1), Vol. 4 (Alabama State Highway Department), Sec. G, 10-36.
102. Project I-565(1), Vol. 1 (Alabama State Highway Department), 135-138.
103. Interstate I-565, Huntsville Chapter: Alabama Conservancy, Sec. S, 1-18.
104. Stanley L. Johnson, "A Historical Analysis of Urban Renewal in Huntsville, Alabama: The Social Impact of Relocation on the black Community," Alabama A&M (1995), 7-8.
105. The Housing Authority of the City of Huntsville: A History-August 1941-March 1973 (The Huntsville Housing Authority, 1973).
106. Letter from Executive Director of Housing Authority, Nathan F. S. Porter, to Kenneth E. Johnson in Project I- 565(1), Vol. 4 (Alabama State Highway Department), Sec. G, 42-43.
107. "Evaluation of Previous Relocation of Huntsville Residents," in Project I-565(1), Vol. 1 (Alabama State Highway Department), 141-144.
108. "Some Find Minority Growth Surprising," The Huntsville Times April 12, 1981.
109. "City's Growth: Census Shows Population Gains Centered in Southeast Section," The Huntsville Times July 26, 1981.
110. "Realty Practices Probed Here," The Huntsville Times, n.d., in Huntsville-Housing- 1970s Clipping Folder, Heritage Room, Huntsville-Madison County Public Library.
111. "Northwest Passage: Where is Northwest Huntsville," The Huntsville Times December 25, 1997.
112. "Percentage of blacks in system is rising, but they're mostly isolated," The Huntsville Times August 31, 2003.
113. 'Housing Plan Said Segregating City," Huntsville News July 10, 1979.
114. Teacher Nina Hoop quoted in "Housing Assistance Plan Foes Renew Complaints," The Huntsville Times September 17, 1979.
115. Professor Dale Shaw quoted in "Realty Practices Probed Here," The Huntsville Times.
116. "Not Everyone Wanted I-565 Through City," The Huntsville Times October 24, 1991.
117. "Highway Spur stirs conflict, confusion," The Huntsville Times November 17, 1977; "Decision on Huntsville's controversial I-65 spur expected soon," Birmingham Post-Herald January 25, 1978; "I-565: It's still a long way from reality," The Huntsville Times January 25, 1981; "U.S. Approves I-565, State Refines Design Plans," The Huntsville Times March 7, 1981; "Opinions Differ on I-65 Spur Relocation Plan," The Huntsville Times January 11, 1981.
118. "I-565: It's still a long way from reality," The Huntsville Times January 25, 1981; "Paper Dream: After 20 Years, I-565 Approval Still Awaited," The Huntsville Times June 14, 1981.
119. "Group Renews I-565 Support," The Huntsville Times March 15, 1981; "Paper Dream: After 20 Years, I-565 Approval Still Awaited," The Huntsville Times June 14, 1981; For an example of a "stop-the-spur" letter, see: letter to the editor, "Huntsville Spur Project a Waste of Funds," Times Daily August 6, 1981; and for more local opposition letters from this period, see: Alabama Governor (1979-1983: James), Correspondence files, Highway Dept., SG004798-SG004800, Research Room, Alabama Department of Archives and History.
120. "Not Everyone Wanted I-565 Through City," The Huntsville Times October 24, 1991.
121. Project I-565(1): Madison County, Relocation Plan (Alabama State Highway Department), 7;
122. Vision 2000-Huntsville: A Future on the Horizon, Vision 2000 Policy Board-City of Huntsville (September 1990), 40;
123. Update of Public Transportation Feasibility Study (Huntsville Alabama: Transportation Center, The University of Tennessee, January 1989), 6.
124. "Chamber Begins Push to Show I-565 Support," The Huntsville Times August 12, 1976; "'No Growth' Critics Threaten Spur Project," Huntsville News 14 (August 1976); "I-565: The Other Side," The Huntsville Times 12 (August 1976); Project I-565(1), Vol. 4 (Alabama State Highway Department), Sec. H, 1-3; Huntsville's Neighborhoods-An Analysis (Huntsville Planning Commission, July 1973); Project I-565(1): Madison County, Relocation Plan (Alabama State Highway Department), 7; Initiatives: What Makes Our Economy Tick (Huntsville: Madison Chamber of Commerce, December/January 2002), 15.
125. Mohl "Urban Expressways," 90.
126. Project I-565(1), Vol. 1 (Alabama State Highway Department), 161+145.
127. "Letter from Assistant Planning Director of the Planning Commission, Tom Dozier, to Kenneth E. Johnson" in Project I-565(1), Vol. 4 (Alabama State Highway Department), Sec. H, 1-3.
128. For more on city planners' view of I-565 as a "needed improvement" to certain neighborhoods see: Huntsville's Neighborhoods-An Analysis, Huntsville Planning Commission (July 1973).
129. Project I-565(1): Madison County, Relocation Plan (Alabama State Highway Department), 4, 7 and Sec. A, 1-2.
130. Twenty-Year Report of Urban Renewal Progress in Huntsville (Housing Authority of the City of Huntsville, 1977).
131. The Housing Authority of the City of Huntsville: A History-August 1941-March 1973 (The Huntsville Housing Authority, 1973).
132. Johnson, "A Historical Analysis of Urban Renewal in Huntsville, Alabama," 1-5.
133. Jewel Bellush and Murray Hauscknecht, ed., Urban Renewal: People, Politics, and Planning (New York: Doubleday, 1967), 85.
134. Twenty-Year Report of Urban Renewal Progress in Huntsville (Housing Authority of the City of Huntsville, 1977).
135. Project I-565(1), Vol. 1 (Alabama State Highway Department), 155.
136. Mission Progress, Vol. 2, Number 10 (Housing Authority of the City of Huntsville, October 1974).
137. Johnson, "A Historical Analysis of Urban Renewal in Huntsville, Alabama," 81-89.
138. "Urban Renewal: Tale of Anguish, Frustration," The Huntsville Times May 31, 1970.
139. "Urban Renewal Changes Face of Huntsville," The Huntsville Times March 28, 1976.
140. "Evaluation of Previous Relocation of Huntsville Residents," in Project I-565(1), Vol. 1 (Alabama State Highway Department), 141-144.
141. "An Era Ends: A Federal Program Remade Huntsville," The Huntsville Times December 12, 1982; "Some Find Minority Growth Surprising," The Huntsville Times April 12, 1981; "City's Growth: Census Shows Population Gains Centered in Southeast Section," The Huntsville Times July 26, 1981; "Northwest Passage: Where is Northwest Huntsville," The Huntsville Times December 25, 1997; "Percentage of blacks in System is Rising, But They're Mostly Isolated," The Huntsville Times August 31, 2003.
142. Project I-565(1): Madison County, Relocation Plan (Alabama State Highway Department), 7.
143. "Letter from Assistant Planning Director of the Planning Commission, Tom Dozier, to Kenneth E. Johnson" in Project I-565(1), Vol. 4 (Alabama State Highway Department), Sec. H, 1-3.
144. Census 2000 Transportation Planning, Journey-to-Work Characteristics (Madison County, Alabama, City of Huntsville: Planning Division, Urban Development Department, September 2003), 29; Study of 1990 census data showed Huntsville, while remaining one of the least segregated areas in the state, became more segregated from 1980 to 1990, see: "Huntsville-Decatur Area State's Least Segregated," The Huntsville Times January 29, 1997; Population Change in North Alabama-Analysis by Niles Schoening, UAH\TVA Census90 Project, Business and Economic Research, College of Administrative Science, University of Alabama in Huntsville, March 1992; Huntsville Alabama Fair Housing Plan, 2010-2015, The Department of Community Development, January 2011; "Percentage of blacks in system is rising, but they're mostly isolated," The Huntsville Times August 31, 2003; "Huntsville Fights Inner-City School Label, New Buildings Ringing Suburbs Could Strangle Core," The Huntsville Times September 2, 2003.
145. Edward L. Glaeser and Jesse M. Shapiro, City Growth and the 2000 Census: Which Places Grew, and Why, Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy (The Brookings Institution, May 2001), 6.
146. Initiatives: What Makes Our Economy Tick (Huntsville: Madison Chamber of Commerce, December/January 2002), 12.
147. Telephone interview with former highway engineer Jimmy Deas February 13, 2010; "Bass Puzzled by I-565 Delay," The Huntsville Times June 28, 1977.
148. Mohl "Stop the Road."
149. "Conservancy Plans Spur Suit," The Huntsville Times February 22, 1976; E-mail from Cathy Burns April 22, 2010; Telephone interview with Huntsville resident and civil rights activist Sonnie Hereford III September 14, 2010; "Highway Spur Stirs Conflict, Confusion," The Birmingham News November 17, 1977.
150. Burns phone Interview April 20, 2010; "I-565 Resolution Delayed by Council," Huntsville News August 13, 1976; For examples of the predominantly pro-spur sentiment that came from the local press, see: editorials in Huntsville News editions: October 18, 1974, August 16, 1976, and Huntsville Times editions: November 14, 1972, November 6, 1974, and August 12, 1976.
151. Second e-mail from Cathy Burns April 22, 2010.
152. "City Officials Look at Long-Range Plan for Transportation," The Huntsville Times October 14, 1979); "City in Transit," Huntsville News March 23, 1990.
153. Update of Public Transportation Feasibility Study (Huntsville Alabama: Transportation Center, The University of Tennessee, January 1989), 24, 35, 101.
154. "Transit Plan for City Said Bad Idea," The Huntsville Times February 2, 1989.
155. Mohl, "The Interstates and the Cities."
156. City Growth and the 2000 Census: Which Places Grew, and Why, Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy (The Brookings Institution, May 2001), 6; See population decline in the majority of central city census tracts and major population growth in outlying ones at "Mapping the 2010 U.S. Census," The New York Times, n.d., http://projects.nytimes.com/census/2010/map?hp; City of Huntsville: Downtown Master Plan Update, prepared for the City of Huntsville Urban Development Department, Planning Division by Edwards and Kelcey Corporation (April 2006); "Redefining Huntsville's Downtown," The Huntsville Times October 15, 2009.