Gurley residents, nearby McMullen Cove, and the surrounding Cove community will soon enjoy a major economic development project. A new regional sports complex situated at Rock Cut Road and US-72 is coming to the Town of Gurley!
Initial infrastructure work to support the project begins early 2019. Rock Cut Road will be closed in order to lay sewer lines. After sewer installation is complete, ongoing construction and site work will result in reduced speed limits and increased fines on Rock Cut Road through early summer 2019 as crews build the exciting new complex that looks to provide athletic facilities for events and draw visitors for the growing sports economy.
Relatedly, the City of Huntsville passed a resolution to ask ALDOT to install a partial temporary signal at Rock Cut Road and US-72 by January 2019. This signal would stop eastbound traffic only, while morning commuters from the Cove towards Huntsville would need to merge into westbound traffic on US-72 when a gap was observed. The current speed limit on US-72 at Rock Cut Road is 65 mph, and between 1400-2000 vehicles per hour (approximately 10% of daily traffic) are traveling in the vicinity during peak times.
It is expected that the closure of Cecil Ashburn will increase all traffic counts along US-72 and Little Cove Road exiting the Cove. The City of Huntsville has planned this closure concurrently to Gurley’s activities and other major Cove-Area infrastructure work, announcing project bidding to open in Mid-November in anticipation of a January 2019 start date.
