Gov. Ivey announces construction on Birmingham Northern Beltline to restart soon

GARDENDALE, Ala. (WBMA) — Gov. Kay Ivey announced construction will soon begin on a 10-mile stretch of road as a part of the Birmingham Northern Beltline.

Ivey was joined by Rep. Gary Palmer and other state officials along with local business leaders during a press conference Thursday afternoon in Gardendale. Also speaking at the press conference was Jefferson County Commission President Jimmie Stephens, Gardendale Mayor Stan Hogeland, Homewood city councilwoman Jennifer Andress, and DeJarvis Leonard with the Alabama Department of Transportation.

"This is an exciting day for Jefferson County," Ivey said. "And I'm excited to see construction commence on this game-changer of a project."

The 10-mile, four-lane stretch of road is expected to connect Highway 31 near Gardendale and State Route 75 near Pinson. Congressman Gary Palmer said it will bring more jobs to the area. Construction will take 5 years, and it set to be completed in 2028.

If you build it they will come, well that applies to infrastructure. if you build the right infrastructure, business will come, and the right kind of business.

READ MORE:No timetable to restart Northern Beltline with $369 million in federal funding- Nov. 2022

Ivey said $489 million of federal funding has been secured to help jumpstart the construction of this stretch of road over the next five years. Over $300 million of the funding is from President Biden's infrastructure package.

The 10-mile section is also said to take 18,000 semi-trucks off of downtown Birmingham roads, and alleviate congestion. Homewood City Council woman Jennifer Andress said it will also improve emergency response times throughout central Alabama.

"The northern beltline will play a major role in improving response times after disasters and making it easier for citizens to get to and from the city center without having to depend on windy Alabama two lane roads," said Andress.

The Birmingham Northern Beltline is a proposed 52.5 mile long route around Birmingham and through areas of northern and western Jefferson County. The project originally broke ground in 2014 and has a projected completion date of 2047.

Ivey said Birmingham is one of the few cities of its size complete connected interstate route.

"For what seems like the last 30 years, we have talked about the need for a project that changes that. More and more people have located to the area with each year that has passed so the need for this project has grown."