The Huntsville City Council on Thursday unanimously approved an agreement that could help ease traffic through the construction of a new four-lane arterial roadway connecting Interstate 565 to Redstone Arsenal Gate 10 at Patton Road.

The agreement with Volkert, Inc. is for a Planning Environmental Linkage (PEL) survey, to include preliminary engineering design for the 2.5-mile connector road.

City Engineer Kathy Martin explained the connector would be funded through the Metropolitan Planning Organization, meaning it will be comprised of 80% federal funds with a 20% local match. The total cost of the survey is estimated at $955,752. The City’s portion of the survey will be $191,850.

She explained the survey will evaluate five concepts and provide three build alternatives to include public involvement meetings, site investigations, surveys and cost estimates for consideration in accordance with federal, state and local requirements.

“This is a regionally significant project … for a new corridor that will ease traffic congestion within the area,” she said of the corridor survey.