heroism in action. In 2001, the road was renamed Research Park Boulevard for Cummings Research Park, which the road bisects. (The southward extension into the Arsenal is still named Rideout Road.) In 2005, a three-mile extension was constructed to connect with Bob Wade Lane on the north side of Huntsville. This section was named in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. and built to the same road standards as the present at-grade portion of SR 255, allowing for future upgrade to limited access. The road was built as part of a deal with the Toyota Motor Manufacturing Alabama Plant to allow faster access to I-565. In 2013, the at-grade intersection with SR 53 was replaced with an interchange. As part of this work, existing at-grade intersections with Blake Bottom Road and Dan Tibbs Road were eliminated, making the route all freeway from the Arsenal boundary to SR 53. These roads provide access to numerous subdivisions in northwestern Huntsville. That action created a traffic bottleneck in the afternoon, as traffic going from northbound SR 255 to these roads has to take the SR 53 ramp and then make a U-turn at the interchange to get to the frontage road intersections on the southbound side. A plan was created for an overpass at Blake Bottom Road to provide access from the northbound side of SR 255 but, in 2012, the Alabama DOT informed the city of Huntsville that the state will not pay for this project. After years of debate, in 2017, the ALDOT reached an agreement with Madison County to build the interchange; the county announced on September 10 that work will begin before the end of the year. The interchange opened in 2020. Future plans A $500 million southern bypass through Redstone Arsenal, which would extend SR 255 south from its current terminus at 565 to US 231 in south Huntsville, has been proposed. It would become part of the proposed Memphis–Huntsville–Atlanta highway. Shortly after the 9/11 terror attacks, the project was put on hold indefinitely due to military security concerns. Subsequently, the route was re-planned, and the current plan does not call for using any part of SR 255. In late 2020, the city of Huntsville was to begin construction to extend SR 255 to US 231/US 431 North towards Meridianville, which will replace Bob Wade Lane. Long-range plans call for SR 255 to be built east and south