The Alabama Department of Transportation has withdrawn its application for a permit to build the first segment of the proposed Northern Beltline until an in-depth study of the whole 52-mile route is completed.
ALDOT had applied to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for permits needed to begin construction on a 3.4-mile segment of the six-lane beltline that would connect Alabama 75 and Alabama 79 near Palmerdale in northeast Jefferson County. ALDOT has spent $15 million acquiring the needed right-of-way and had indicated construction could begin as early as next year.
ALDOT spokesman Tony Harris said ALDOT is still in the midst of a new study that will look at the Beltline project as a whole and evaluate its impact on the economy and environment. The permit application will be resubmitted after the study is completed.
"I can't speculate on when the re-evaluation will be completed because the ongoing work is very detailed," Harris said. "Obviously, the reevaluation must be completed before the project can advance, so I can't guess at when the section of the Beltline between Highways 75 and 79 will be completed."
During the public comment period on ALDOTs permit application, environmental groups had urged the Corps to reject it and were pleased ALDOT was withdrawing the application.
"I think ALDOT is doing the right thing and waiting until the reevaluation is complete," said Sarah Stokes, a staff attorney with the Birmingham office of Southern Environmental Law Center. "We are eager to see what the reevaluation contains. Hopefully, it will thoroughly study the cumulative and indirect impacts of the project and look at alternatives for investing that $4.7 billion."
The SELC represents Black Warrior Riverkeeper in a lawsuit that charges ALDOT hasn't performed required analysis needed to justify the project and determine the best route.
In their comments to Army Corps, the SELC and the Riverkeeper group said that ALDOT's attempt to proceed with construction on the first segment would have circumvented the whole review process by building a segment of the beltline in the middle of its northernmost arc, a segment that would effectively dictate the entire route.
ALDOT had justified the selection of that as the first segment because it would connect two state routes and would have independent utility if the rest of the beltline was never built. Critics of the project disputed that contention since Alabama 79 and Alabama 75 already connect a few miles south of the proposed Beltline.
Stokes said the permit at issue was a good example of the issue as a whole. ALDOT's application for the first segment asked for permission to alter the 1.66 acres of wetlands, but the Beltline project in total would affect 68 acres of wetlands.
In the same way, the construction of one 3.4-mile segment may seem to have only a minor impact but when that segment dictates the route, it is important to understand and justify the entire project, Stokes said.
"It just makes sense to do those kind of studies before you invest that kind of money," Stokes said.
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