Huntsville, ALDOT formalize agreement to ease traffic flow on US, state roads

HUNTSVILLE — An agreement between Huntsville and the state will allow the Alabama Department of Transportation to access traffic signals on federal and state roads to help improve traffic flow.

The agreement includes more than three dozen intersections through the Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) via the Regional Traffic Operations Program (RTOP), the city said.

The RTOP will allow ALDOT to draw upon the city’s insight and promote safety and efficiency in the intersections. The agreement also permits the Huntsville Traffic Engineering to expand its focus to other areas of the city.

“The benefit is that ALDOT can allocate additional resources to key corridors, enabling continuous monitoring of routes like U.S. 72 through neighboring cities to improve traffic flow,” Traffic Engineering Director Nicholas Nene said. “This also allows Traffic Engineering staff to focus our resources on other routes.”

The Federal Highway Authority defines ITS as “electronics, communications or information processing used singly or in combination to improve the efficiency of safety of a surface transportation system.”

Most of the included intersections are on University Drive/U.S. 72 between Memorial Parkway and County Line Road. Other intersections are on Jordan Lane (Alabama 53) and two on South Memorial Parkway. The agreement stipulates that ALDOT cannot make any modifications to traffic signal timing without informing the city.

The agreement also includes co-sharing traffic cameras and any other pertinent equipment.

“This agreement allows both the city and ALDOT to enhance our partnership in managing the traffic demand on state and federal routes in Huntsville,” ALDOT Region Traffic Systems Management and Operations Engineer Phillip Day said.