Alabama officials are seeking federal permission to fill in a stretch of wetlands and streams in the Cahaba and Black Warrior riversheds as the state aims to move forward with a decades-long highway project to construct the Birmingham Northern Beltline.

The Alabama Department of Transportation is requesting a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to fill 1.36 acres of wetlands and more than 10,000 linear feet of streams to build a 9.5-mile section of the beltline. 

The Birmingham Northern Beltline has been in the works for decades. The project intends to create a northern bypass of the city, called Interstate 422, running from Bessemer at its southern terminus to Argo at its northern terminus — a total of 52 miles. If completed, the project would help to entirely encircle Birmingham with interstate highways — the city has four interstates that run through its metro area and a southern bypass, Interstate 459. 

The Birmingham Northern Beltline project was first conceived of in the 1960s, but controversy has prevented much progress on construction. Construction began on a section of the beltline connecting State Route 79 to State Route 75 north of Pinson in 2014. However, that project was paused in the fall of 2016 due to a lack of funding, resulting in an unfinished, unusable 1.34-mile stretch of road. Construction on that section of the beltline did not resume until 2024 after the state received $489 million in federal funding, and is not expected to be completed until later in 2026.

One factor that has mired the beltline project has been cost. In 2014, the estimated total cost of construction came in at $5.4 billion, making it the most expensive road in Alabama history as well as one of the most expensive roads per mile in the country. Now, under current rates of construction, the road is expected to cost $6.19 billion, or around $119 million per mile. 

Still, no state funds will be used to pay for the beltline. The project was included in the Appalachian Development Highway System in 2003 by former U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Alabama, making the entire project federally funded. The slow pace and massive cost of the project has seen criticism from other federal lawmakers, including former U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colorado, who called the project the “Alabama porkway” and a “zombie” in 2012. The beltline project is not expected to be finished in its entirety until 2048.

The project has also garnered criticism for its potential environmental impacts. The beltline is slated to pass through thousands of acres of forest and crosses tributaries to the Black Warrior and Cahaba Rivers in 90 places. In 2023, the Southern Environmental Law Center filed a complaint with ALDOT on behalf of Black Warrior Riverkeeper, saying that the project would impact Birmingham’s drinking water sources.

Now, project officials are seeking to build a section of road north of Gardendale that would cross portions of Turkey Creek, a Black Warrior tributary, according to the latest permit filed with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Turkey Creek is home to several endangered species, including the vermilion darter, a freshwater fish that is only known to live in the creek. The endangered watercress darter and flattened musk turtle also live in the creek. Just upstream of the area in the permit is the Turkey Creek Nature Preserve. 

The Southern Environmental Law Center has said they seek to challenge the permit by filing comments with the Army Corps of Engineers, asking them to reject the proposal. 

“The Corps needs to take a hard look at ALDOT’s request for a permit before they give ALDOT the greenlight to damage these important waterways,” Sarah Stokes, a senior attorney with the group, told Alabama Reflector. 

The Southern Environmental Law Center has in the past legally challenged the beltline’s construction, calling for an updated environmental survey for the project in 2011. However, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama ultimately ruled against the group in 2016, saying that the project met threshold legal requirements for a review of environmental impacts.

Alabama top stories in brief

Tuberville residency suit dismissed by circuit court, likely headed to state Supreme Court

• Montgomery County Circuit Judge Brooke Reid last week dismissed a lawsuit challenging U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s ability to run for governor. Reid cited a lack of jurisdiction as her reason for dismissing the suit.
• The lawsuit, filed in June, claims that Tuberville, the Republican nominee for governor, does not meet the seven-year residency requirement to become governor, as outlined in the state’s constitution.
• Reid did not weigh in on the merits of the lawsuit in a seven-page order dismissing the suit. Instead, Reid argued that the circuit court lacks the authority to move forward with suits dealing with who is able to hold public office, known as quo warranto suits.
• “While this court lacks authority to extend the application of quo warranto to a certified nominee, that does not imply that it should not be extended in this case, nor that the plaintiffs are stopped altogether from seeking court resolution of Constitutional eligibility to hold office,” Reid wrote in her order.
• On a June 29 hearing, Reid said she expects the case to move on to the Alabama Supreme Court for a final decision.

UA, Auburn issue joint statement against proposed federal NIL law

• The University of Alabama and Auburn University released a joint statement last week opposing the federal Protect College Sports Act — a piece of legislation meant to establish more regulations regarding name, image and likeness agreements in college athletics.
• The Protect College Sports Act passed the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation last week.
• The bill would add more regulations to NIL agreements by providing the NCAA an antitrust exemption so it would be able to set a cap on how much can be paid to student athletes. It would also establish more rules related to transfers and eligibility.
• In the statement, the universities say the bill would “micromanage college athletics,” going on to say the bill “solves little of what genuinely challenges college athletics.”

UA professor fired over Charlie Kirk comments cites ‘conflict of interest’ with attorney who reached settlement

• The University of Alabama reached a settlement with a former English professor who claims she was fired over comments she made in a social media post after the death of Charlie Kirk last year. 
• However, shortly after that settlement was reached, the professor, Candice Hale, filed a notice of irreconcilable conflict of interest claiming that she did not authorize her attorney, Kira Fonteneau, to agree to settlement terms. 
• Hale claims that the university fired her last year without any formal investigation or hearing by citing a loss of confidence in her teaching skills.
• “I don’t give a damn about evil racist, fascist, misogynistic, homophobic, transphobic, xenophobic, mediocre, white men who claim to be Christian and then do everything Christ would not do on Earth,” Hale posted to social media after Kirk was killed in September 2025.
• The settlement agreement UA reached with Fonteneau came in at $60,000, leading the court case to be dismissed.
• Now, Hale has the opportunity to refile the case in court with her new representation.

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