Huntsville to accept $21.64M federal Safe Streets grant to accelerate Holmes Avenue rebuild

Huntsville will accept federal Safe Streets and Roads for All grant funding for a planned rebuild of the Holmes Avenue corridor after council approved a resolution to accept the award and move forward with federal review and design.

Shane Davis, director of urban economic development, told the council the project is a multimodal "complete streets" rebuild stretching from Monroe Street downtown to Jordan Lane and Sparkman, designed to add sidewalks, dedicated bike lanes, improved lighting and multimodal pedestrian amenities. "The total grant project is $30,800,000 and it's a 70/30 split," Davis said, adding the federal share would be approximately $21,640,000 with a local match of roughly $9,000,160. (speaker 47)

Staff said the grant would accelerate design and construction that staff previously forecasted for 2030, noting federal review cycles still apply but the grant program is intended to move money into communities more quickly. Council asked about likely completion windows and land/right‑of‑way implications; city staff said most of the project sits within existing corridors with a small amount of right‑of‑way work anticipated and that federal review phases will take time but the program's structure is designed for quicker deployment than typical federal projects.

Council approved accepting the grant by voice vote.

Next steps: staff will amend design contracts to meet federal standards, submit designs to ALDOT and FHWA for required reviews, and seek to accelerate right‑of‑way and construction schedules with the grant funds.