The interstate highway system, born in the 1940s from the discerning mind of the future President Dwight D. Eisenhower, has been an extraordinary engine driving economic growth and enriching quality-of life in America ever since its launch in 1956.

The interstate highway system democratized mobility in the United States, endowing virtually all Americans with the freedom to move quickly to any destination within their communities, throughout the country, inexpensively, and when their individual needs required it. America became a nation on wheels — reaping benefits from an individual mobility that are unrivaled anywhere in the world.

A vast region of the United States — 205,000 square miles with 25 million people, known as Appalachia — was not included in the national interstate highway system. The terrain is rugged. Building roads in such terrain is expensive, thus much of this region was excluded from the original interstate system.

Although we cannot yet drive by and see physical construction activity along the Northern Beltline route, 2012 brought significant accomplishments that should allow us to do exactly that in 2013.

On March 29, the Federal Highway Administration (FHwA) officially approved the Federal Environmental Impact Study Reevaluation (FEISR), the most significant regulatory requirement in advancing the project to construction.

The FEISR incorporates all of the information in ALDOT’s prior 306-page Federal Environmental Impact Study (FEIS) and only adds any new information to the FEIS. The FEISR is a 1,480-page document that not only cleared the required regulatory and legal process of the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) and FHwA, but was also reviewed and approved by multiple other federal, state, and local agencies according to their areas of expertise.

Birmingham has benefited from the 459 loop around the southern perimeter of our city. It saves time, allowing travelers to bypass downtown traffic. It has also made the suburban areas south of the city into some of the fastest growing, most prosperous areas of our state. The Northern Beltline could do the same for the areas north of Birmingham.

Why would anyone appose it?

Read more at Yellow Hammer.

The Alabama Political Reporter says:

Read the FULL STORY at The Alabama Political Reporter.

Roger McCondichie, mayor of Brookside, says that the future comes with an important number: 422. The new Interstate 422 —the proposed Northern Beltline highway— will include an exit for Brookside.

Read more at The North Jefferson News.