Northern Beltline

The Northern Beltline is the proposed by-pass route around Birmingham through northern and western Jefferson County to be completed by 2025. Along with the existing I-459, the Northern Beltline would complete the bypass loop of central Birmingham for all interstate traffic. Current plans for the route have it connecting at I-459's current southern terminus in Bessemer with I-59 at approximately mile marker 147 to the northeast of Trussville. Additional studies are underway to determine the economic feasibility to continue the route from its proposed northern terminus to I-20 in the Leeds/Moody area. The route has been designated as the Appalachian Regional Commission, High Priority Corridor X-1 and as Alabama State Highway 959.

History

As early as the 1960s, the prospect of a complete beltway encircling Birmingham was envisioned. Although the proposal was initially dropped from the original Interstate Highway System, the completion of Birmingham's outer beltway has been speculated since the completion of I-459 in 1985. By 1989, the first federal and local funds were earmarked for a project to study the feasibility of constructing the route.

In September 1993 the Metropolitan Planning Organization made a $500,000 request from ALDOT for preliminary engineering of the beltline. Through the continued efforts of representative Spencer Bachus, in June 1995, the project was designated by the Federal Highway Administration as part of the National Highway System. As a result of this designation, the beltline would be eligible for federal transportation dollars.

In 2000, the Northern Beltline was added to the area’s Transportation Plan, and in 2001, congressmen Richard Shelby and Spencer Bachus secured $60 million to buy right-of-way and do preliminary engineering for the route. In 2003, Shelby secured an additional $2 million for the continued purchasing of right-of-way. Progress continues with the purchasing of additional right-of way through the county as of 2006.

In 2009 Shelby reaffirmed his commitment to the project, which was deemed the top federal legislative priority for the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce. In May 2009, Spencer Bachus announced that the Northern Beltline will carry the designation of Interstate 422 instead of being simply a continuation of Interstate 459, and also stated that he would like to see it complete by 2025.

The proposal was the subject of a special report on "The Newshour with Jim Lehrer". Journalist Rick Karr characterized it as a "quintessential" example of what he terms "zombie highways" for their propensity to devour funding even when they're all but dead.

Opposition

A group called SOURCE ("Save Our Unique River, Communities and Environment") has criticized the proposed alignment of the beltline, saying that it needlessly endangers the headwaters of the Cahaba and Little Cahaba Rivers. The group points out that the proposal shows interchanges being constructed in some of the most environmentally-sensitive sections of the watershed. SOURCE has also pointed out that U. S. Steel and the Drummond Company, owners of large tracts of undeveloped land in northern Jefferson County, stand to benefit most from the project, and that those large owners are driving forces in speeding funding for the project.

Proposed routing

According to the Birmingham Metropolitan Planning Organization the Northern Beltline would be divided into five separate segments for construction.

Segment	Western End	Eastern End	Mileage	Communities traversed	Exits
Segment 1	I-459	Jefferson County 46	9.02	Bessemer, Hueytown	I-459, Jefferson County 29, Jefferson County 46
Segment 2	Jefferson County 46	U.S. Highway 78	9.58	Pleasant Grove, Sylvan Springs, Mulga, Maytown, Adamsville	Alabama 269, U.S. Highway 78
Segment 3	U.S. Highway 78	Jefferson County 77/New Found Road	8.28	Adamsville, Graysville, Cardiff, Brookside	U.S. Highway 78
Segment 4	Jefferson County 77/New Found Road	Jefferson County 121/New Castle Road	10.20	Brookside, Gardendale, Morris	Jefferson County 112, I-65, Highway 31, Jefferson County 129
Segment 5	Jefferson County 121/New Found Road	I-59	13.00	Pinson, Clay, Trussville	Alabama 79, Alabama 75, Jefferson County 30/Old Springville Road, I-59

References

• Roberts, Chris (September 15, 1993) "JeffCo, Shelby getting $120 million for roads." Birmingham News
• Gordon, Tom (June 10, 1995) "Northern Beltline gets federal priority." Birmingham News
• Nicholson, Gilbert (May 11, 2001) "Northern Beltline: Land rush may ensue when road's route announced this summer." Birmingham Business Journal [1].
• Birmingham Business Journal (September 4, 2003) "Sen. Shelby continues to bring home transportation bacon." Birmingham Business Journal [2].
• Orndorff, Mary (May 1, 2009) "U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby pledges federal aid for Northern Beltline project near Birmingham, Alabama." Birmingham News
• MacDonald, Ginny (May 26, 2009) "Corridor X/ I-65 interchange construction could begin this year." Birmingham News
• Gray, Jeremy (August 6, 2009) "Show looks at the Northern Beltline and area mass transit." Birmingham News
• Karr, Rick (August 5, 2009) "More Blueprint America on The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer". Blueprint America

External links

• Northern Beltline at AARoads.com
• Northern Beltline at the Birmingham MPO
• Map of the Northern Beltline from the Birmingham MPO
• SOURCE website