MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Motorists can now use a new 1.88-mile connection between the Bradford and Palmerdale communities in northeast Jefferson County after the first segment of the Birmingham Northern Beltline opened to traffic Tuesday.
The four-lane route, designated State Route 959, runs between Alabama 79 and Alabama 75. It is the first completed portion of the Birmingham Northern Beltline, a long-planned 52-mile corridor intended to eventually link Interstate 59 in northeast Jefferson County with Interstate 459 in Bessemer. The larger route has been proposed for eventual designation as Interstate 422.
Gov. Kay Ivey announced the opening Tuesday, calling it a milestone for a project state leaders have promoted for decades as a way to improve regional mobility and support development north of Birmingham.
“This is a watershed moment in this transformational project critical to future economic development in Jefferson and surrounding counties,” Ivey said in a statement.
The new segment gives drivers a more direct route between Alabama 79 and Alabama 75, rather than requiring travel on local roads through the surrounding communities. It also offers another route for emergency responders serving the area, according to local officials cited in coverage of the opening.
ALDOT awarded a $64.8 million contract for the first phase in 2024. The work included roadway construction and bridges between Alabama 79 and Alabama 75.
The road is not yet an interstate. It is currently SR-959, while the Interstate 422 designation applies to the planned larger beltline corridor. Most of the project remains in planning, design, property-acquisition or future construction stages.
ALDOT is working on the next roughly eight miles west toward U.S. 31 in Gardendale and expects to award construction contracts for multiple additional phases in 2027, according to the governor’s office.
The opening comes as the wider beltline project remains the focus of sustained criticism from environmental groups, which have challenged future portions of the route because of their potential effect on forests, streams and wetlands.
ALDOT this summer sought a federal 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 for a proposed 9.5-mile future segment north of Birmingham. The agency has said such impacts would be offset through wetland and stream mitigation credits.
The full beltline is expected to cross tributaries of both the Cahaba and Black Warrior rivers about 90 times, according to reporting on the permit application. The project’s path includes areas near Turkey Creek, a Black Warrior River tributary that provides habitat for the endangered vermilion darter, watercress darter and flattened musk turtle.
Black Warrior Riverkeeper and the Southern Environmental Law Center have opposed the project for years. The groups contend that reviews of individual segments do not adequately account for the cumulative environmental effects of the complete corridor.
Nelson Brooke, Black Warrior Riverkeeper’s executive director, has said the groups are concerned that future construction could affect sensitive waterways and habitats around Turkey Creek. Southern Environmental Law Center attorney Sarah Stokes has called for greater federal scrutiny of permits for future portions of the project.
Environmental advocates also question whether the expected economic benefits justify the project’s cost and environmental disruption. ALDOT has estimated the full project at about $6.19 billion in current construction costs, while state officials say the highway’s place in the Appalachian Development Highway System makes it eligible for federal funding.
For drivers, however, Tuesday’s opening creates an immediately usable route between Alabama 79 and Alabama 75 — a small first section of a project whose complete route, cost, environmental review and timeline remain unsettled.