During an official signing ceremony on Monday, President Joe Biden officially enshrined the recently passed $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill into law.
While voting against the package and taking a critical posture toward Democrats’ approach to the bill, U.S. Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Hoover) outlined the inclusion of what he deemed to be a critical funding measure for the greater Birmingham area.
According to Palmer’s congressional office, his work saw a provision included into the bill which would provide $1.25 billion for construction of incomplete sections of the Appalachian Development Highway System (ADHS), a network of highways linking the region to national interstates.
$369 million of the funding will be appropriated over the next five years toward the construction of the Northern Beltline, Alabama’s sole ADHS project which has yet to be completed.
Palmer noted the outstanding need to see that the project is completed, asserting that the area would experience vast economic benefits once it was finished.
“Funding the Northern Beltline has consistently been one of my top priorities,” advised Palmer. “Birmingham is currently one of the largest metropolitan areas in the country without a complete beltline around it. Completing the Northern Beltline will benefit the entire region and enhance economic development and employment opportunities.”
Palmer noted that the Appalachian Regional Commission had indicated that the project upon completion would hold “an annual economic impact exceeding $2 billion in 10 years and has the potential to create 14,000 jobs.”
The congressman concluded, “This is the opportunity we have been working for as a region and a state. Now is the time for us to take advantage of it and complete the work by finishing the Northern Beltline and building a better future for the Birmingham metro area and central Alabama.”
Dylan Smith is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanSmithAL
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