Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle rebuts NPR analyst's take on I-565

Staff Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle

HUNTSVILLE, AL. -- Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle appeared on National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" program this afternoon to rebut an economist's take that Interstate 565 here was an example of government pork spending.

Economist Russ Roberts, talking to 26 million listeners Wednesday, declared Huntsville's little stretch of interstate a lightly used, 14-lane "lake of asphalt."

Roberts, who now says he may have exaggerated, was using Interstate 565 to warn against waste in federal spending.

Battle, in an interview with NPR's Robert Siegel today, attempted to set the record straight by pointing out that I-565 is 8 lanes, and carries 105,000 cars per day, many of them commuting to Redstone Arsenal, Marshall Space Flight Center and the nation's second largest research park, Cummings Research Park.

Battle said Huntsville was the last city of its size in the nation to not have an interstate connection when I-565 was completed in the early 90s. It is now a big part of the area's ability to recruit workers for its thousands of high-tech jobs, Battle said.

Roberts, whose parents live in Huntsville, said during today's program that he fully expects to get a ticket next time he drives down I-565.

For more on this story, read Saturday's Huntsville Times