Hartselle plan would guide city through 20 years of improvements
By Jean Cole
For the Enquirer
A dog park, a shared-use path from Sparkman Park to downtown and a third exit at Bethel Road are just a few of the improvements mentioned in the Hartselle Comprehensive Plan approved last week by city officials.
The City Council unanimously approved the plan — a 2,045-page guide to improving the city over the coming decades.
“This is a citywide, long-range, 20-year plan that is typically updated every five to 10 years,” said Jeremy Griffith, director of development for the city of Hartselle. “It shows annexation plans, future land use plans and any zoning changes that are proposed during that time.”
The plan, which took “the better part of a year” to complete, had considerable public input through a series of public hearings and a survey.
“We had a couple of public input sessions at the civic center and we had a committee that was formed that steered it — about 15 members,” Griffith said. “Of course, Joey Hester and Shelby Selman (planners with North Alabama Regional Council of Governments) drafted the plan and navigated through all of the public hearings and the surveys. There was an online survey that was done. We got a pretty good bit of input from it. So, it’s been a long process.”
He said NARCOG basically served as a consultant on the plan.
“Someone from the outside looking in that would not be as close to it and would be more objective possibly,” Griffith said. “Plus, they have a larger staff that can handle the GIS and the mapping and all of that without the phone ringing about zoning questions.”
Griffith said the council could always vary from the plan on a case-by-case basis as needed if it deems it necessary, but they try to follow it with regard to annexation and development.
“It’s a guiding document,” Griffith said. “We shoot for attaining everything in the plan, but it is a guide. Things will be varied from, but this is the direction we will work toward.”
The plan focuses on an array of topics including transportation and parks and recreation. Among the transportation improvements listed are:
• Widening Interstate 65 from Interstate 565 to south of Thompson Road.
• Continuing to work toward improvements to Thompson Road, and widening the bridge.
• Completing the proposed connection between I-65 and U.S. 31 from the new exit at Bethel Road.
• Implementing a roundabout project at the Alabama 36 and I-65 interchange.
“The comprehensive plan has other things too — a transportation plan, a future street layout plan and what we call the third exit at Bethel Road, which has been discussed for Interstate 65,” Griffith said. “That is shown in there along with a couple of potential routes that would take it from Interstate 65 over to U.S. 31 near the north end of Sparkman Street, which is a very big project.”
The exit, which would be a state-funded project, is not yet funded so the plan is conceptual, he said.
“It is needed,” Griffith said. “It would take some pressure off of Main Street. It would take some pressure off of 36 and take people directly from 65 over to the northern end of the city at Highway 31.”
He said the plan includes some potential changes at Alabama 36 and I-65 at Exit 328, at the current Alabama 36 exit.
“There may be some traffic roundabouts (added),” he said. “I’m not sure that is exactly the way we would go. We might do some different things there, but we are trying to find a way to relieve some of the congestion in that area.”
Once the city decides which way to go — whether a roundabout or something else — the project would be handled by ALDOT, he said.
“You can do different things there. You can change the flow with structures like roundabouts,” he said, “or you could do a bridge widening, which of course would be a bigger and more costly endeavor. Both of those would be possibilities there in the future. And over on the other side of the interstate at Cracker Barrel the improvement of that intersection at Main Street and Lando Cain Road with a traffic signal hopefully will help on that side.”
Parks and recreation
Among the potential parks and recreation improvements in the plan are a shared-use path from Sparkman Park to downtown and from downtown to Hartselle High School.
“The shared-use path would be used by multiple means of alternate transportation such as bicycles, walking, jogging,” Hester said. “Paths other than those for automobiles. It’s more for pedestrians to navigate the city, along with sidewalks, and it is to provide good connectivity through various focal points like city parks and downtown neighborhoods.”
Other possible improvements referenced in the plan include:
• Working with the Tennessee Valley Authority to create a park and boating/paddling recreation center at the Alabama 36 Woodall Bridge historical marker location.
• Making improvements to the existing skate park and dog park.
• Providing more open green spaces in Hartselle.
• Exploring good sites for a BMX track and city-operated RV facilities at Sparkman Park.
• Exploring the opportunity for a new park and greenway trail near the Red Roof Inn along the creek, including a high-quality dog park for interstate travelers to take advantage of, as well as locals.
• Improving and maintaining Sparkman Park as a regional recreational destination.
• Making improvements to the existing disc golf course at Sparkman Park and continuing to support disc golf opportunities.
Hester said although the disc golf proposal has not been fleshed out, he sees it as an example of how the city can also support the local economy through tourism. He said a lot of disc golfers travel to other cities to play and they might stay in a local hotel and spend their money at local restaurants in doing so.
“At the end of the day,” he said, “the Hartselle Comprehensive Plan is a roadmap for the future of the city. It’s a way to achieve the vision.”
