Phase One of Highway 53 Widening Project Underway

by Dwight Turner

The long-awaited project aimed at widening Alabama Highway 53 from Huntsville to the Tennessee state line is finally underway.

Alabama State Representative Sue Schmitz and Alabama State Senator Tom Butler were on hand last week to turn the first shovels of dirt, formally beginning Phase One of the project.

Scott Appleton, project supervisor, was also on hand for the event.

Phase One of the project will involve widening Alabama Highway 53 going north from Mastin Lake Road in Huntsville to Research Park Boulevard. Phase One involves widening the road to four lanes and has a projected completion date of December 2006.

Alabama Representative Sue Schmitz, left, and Alabama State Senator Tom Butler, right, join Scott Appleton, project foreman, in turning the first shovels of dirt as construction begins on the first phase of widening Alabama Highway 53. (courtesy photo)

After Phase One is completed, three more phases of work on Highway 53 will take the four-lane widening project north to the Tennessee state line.