Motorists in the Birmingham area may be cheering a newly proposed highway project. It’s called the Northern Beltway. The idea is to funnel traffic, so it skirts around downtown Birmingham. That may sound good on paper, but environmentalists are among those crying foul over the project. APR student report Hannah Holcombe heard from all sides and files this report.
“It's essentially a massive boondoggle. It's a huge investment to speculatively potentially open an area up for the prospect of development.”
That’s Nelson Brooke with Black Warrior Riverkeeper. He’s talking about the Birmingham Northern Beltline. It’s a proposed highway that would run 52 miles around the Magic City. The point is to bypass downtown. That’s why Brooke is concerned. He patrols waterways like the Black Warrior to monitor pollution Turkey Creek is one.
“Turkey Creek is the tributary of the Locust Fort of the Black Warrior River, and it's just this beautiful spring fed stream that feeds out of the southern Appalachian Mountains.”
Turkey Creek is a hot spot for hiking, birdwatching, and cold-water springs. It’s also home to endangered species like the Vermilion Darter and the flattened musk turtle.
“The Northern Beltline plans to cross the creek in multiple places and its tributaries, both downstream and upstream of the Turkey Creek Nature Preserve. And we're not aware of any state or federal regulatory authorities that are planning on trying to keep the Northern beltline from passing through this pristine area.”
Turkey Creek Nature Preserve, a beloved recreation destination and endangered species habitat downstream of the Northern Beltline’s proposed path. Photo by Nelson Brooke, Black Warrior Riverkeeper.
The concern is over what the northern beltway might do to the environment. The Alabama Department of Transportation says the project will create jobs, boost the economy, and ease traffic. Nelson Brooke says the cost goes beyond $5 billion for the concrete and asphalt.
“We're talking about wholesale destruction of beautiful mountainside, spring fed streams, talking about discharge sediment into these streams during construction, the alteration of slow regimes because of changes and runoff patterns.”
The road project was introduced back in 1960. If planners move ahead, the beltway is expected to be finished in about twenty years. Construction started on the first phase in 2014, but the money ran out two years later. Governor Kay Ivey secured close to a half billion dollars from President Biden’s infrastructure plan to get the project back on track. The first chunk of the beltway around Pinson should be done by the year after next.
The Southern Environmental Law Center says the Beltline will harm Birmingham’s air and water quality, cross rivers and wetlands in ninety places. Construction will also reportedly clear thousands of acres of forest. Black Warrior Riverkeeper sued the state back in 2016 to stop the project. But a federal judge ruled the Beltline met legal requirements.
“It doesn't seem to be a whole lot of prioritizations for the importance of the environment to our local economy, and the widespread support from residents for protecting the places that provide habitat for rare species and great points of recreation. I mean, why that's the case? I don't know,” said Brooke “These decisions are being made by very few people on behalf of a lot of people.”
ALDOT argues the road will ease traffic, attract businesses, and create jobs. These claims are based on a 2010 economic study, but newer data challenges this.
“Our job, myself and my co-author, Dr Craig Depkin, were tasked with just analyzing this project from an economic point of view, seeing if it made sense, seeing the costs and the benefits and so on so forth from it.”
That’s Dr. Matthew Metzgar. He’s co-author of a new economic report on the Birmingham Northern Beltline. He says that the amount of traffic around Birmingham doesn’t justify the amount of money that is being spent on this project. In his report he suggests to others that this money can be better spent in ways that cost less and are less damaging to the environment.
“You could look at widening the existing interstates in Birmingham, where you sometimes get some traffic. But two, there's also been more growth and congestion on some of the south side of Birmingham. So, you can look at what could fit in down there,” said Metzgar. “The city of Birmingham has been declining in population and already actually has excess transportation capacity. And one of the reports that's mentioned that that they do have a lot of roadways that really aren't being utilized”
ALDOT continues to defend the beltway. The agency claims the project could create a lot of jobs and boost the local economy. Metzgar argues in his report that the jobs created would be construction jobs that wouldn’t last long. He also says that this job creation would be a waste of the taxpayer’s money.
“Taxpayer dollars aren't just supposed to create jobs that main function is, again, create something that the public needs, that can serve the citizens.”
Metzgar also mentioned the possibility of some people having to move out of their homes or relocate due to the project.
“If you're building that large of a belt line through that area, it's going to affect someone in that in that region. And so maybe instead of Group A being harmed, group Bs harmed, but that's still a harm to someone, and so you just have to think about that.”
Metzgar and Brooke agree—the Beltline project’s impact goes beyond its construction. From the environment to homes, businesses, and communities, the implications are far-reaching.
“It's this idea that every new development is this new great thing for the community, but there's always going to be a loser on the other end of the mirror,” said Brooke.
The Alabama Department of Transportation declined to comment on the project. Meanwhile, as construction presses forward, critics warn that the Beltline could leave behind more harm than progress—forever altering the environment, waterways, and communities it touches. I’m Hannah Holcombe, APR News in Tuscaloosa.
