|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
A strong show of support for the Birmingham Northern Beltline was evident as several hundred residents attended a public meeting hosted by the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) on Tuesday in Gardendale.
Advocates urged ALDOT to keep moving forward and build the next phase of the Northern Beltline – a critical 10-mile stretch of four-lane highway connecting U.S. Highway 31 near Gardendale to State Route 79 near Pinson.
Among those supporters of the Northern Beltline were area first responders who said the Northern Beltline will help improve emergency response times.
Fultondale Fire Chief Justin McKenzie spoke on behalf of the North Jefferson County Association of Fire Departments and said, “We are highly supportive of this.”
“It’s crucial that we get response times down. Getting to emergencies, getting to medical emergencies, traffic accidents, things like that have become very hard with the increased population,” said McKenzie. “With this Northern Beltline, it will help us cut response times down.”
Jon Lord, President of the Jefferson County Association of Fire Departments, also spoke in favor of the Northern Beltline.
“We are very supportive of this because the transport times from one location to another make a huge difference,” Lord said. “Saving lives is a matter of seconds, so certainly 10 minutes will make a huge difference.”
“This project will very literally save people’s lives, probably a large number of lives,” said Palmerdale Fire District Chief Jason Howell. “It will improve response times and help firefighters, law enforcement and emergency medical personnel get to people in need much more quickly. The Northern Beltline will enable us to get people to UAB’s Freestanding ER in Gardendale in 10 minutes instead of 30. Every minute counts in an emergency and can mean the difference between life and death.”
Janet Kavinoky, Chair of the Coalition for Regional Transportation, said the Northern Beltline will bring growth, jobs and more opportunities to northern Jefferson County the same way Interstate 459 has done for southern Jefferson County.
“When I-459 was completed 40 years ago, it stimulated economic growth, created jobs and brought new developments. The same will happen with construction of the Northern Beltline,” she said.
Othell Phillips, Executive Director of the Jefferson County Economic and Industrial Development Authority, agrees.
“Connecting the Eastern portion of the Northern Beltline will open up countless opportunities for economic expansion,” Phillips said. “The Northern Beltline will deliver multiple possibilities to attract anything from corporate headquarters to manufacturing facilities that serve industries like automotive, medical, and aerospace for generations.”
Congressman Gary Palmer said, “I think it’s extremely important that we build this roadway and that we do it in a way that we preserve our quality of life. I don’t mean just our economic viability but the beauty, the natural beauty that we have in this area.”
Noting he lives not far from I-459, Palmer said, “I know this is not incompatible — to have excellent infrastructure, excellent economic opportunity and still maintain a high quality of life, and that includes our ability to enjoy the outdoors.”
Alabama’s congressional delegation has secured $519 million in federal funding to complete the 10-mile segment to U.S. Highway 31, a crucial part of the overall 52-mile interstate project. Once finished, the Northern Beltline will stretch from Interstate 59 in northeast Jefferson County to the I-459 interchange near Bessemer, significantly enhancing the region’s infrastructure.
More than 40 municipalities, three counties, and numerous businesses have formally backed the Northern Beltline, underscoring its importance to the area’s future.
The Coalition for Regional Transportation is an advocacy group that builds broad support for surface-transportation projects that will benefit the Birmingham region. CRT has been advocating for surface-transportation projects in the Birmingham region since 2008.
