Gil Rogers, attorney representing Southern Environmental Law Center, approached Pell City Council Monday night about issues surrounding the proposed Northern Beltline project.

The proposed Northern Beltline is a 52-mile, six-lane stretch of interstate that would be built around the northern part of Birmingham.

The Northern Beltline affects St. Clair because the county will soon join the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), a transportation improvement program that coordinates long-term (25 years) and short-term (five-year) transportation projects under the Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham (RPCGB).

“A cost-benefit analysis needs to be done by ALDOT to see whether this is still the best project for Alabama,” Rogers said.

Based on a study conducted by Ochs Center for Metropolitan Studies for the Southern Environmental Law Center, Rogers told the council the multi-billion dollar cost to taxpayers outweighs the potential for jobs and revenue created by the project.

The Northern Beltline is expected to cost taxpayers $4.7 billion, or $90 million per mile.

As a result of the new federal transportation bill passed in July the $4.7 billion can now be spent on other needed projects.  The bill eliminates separate funds designated to the project.

Money designated for the construction project is now competing with other road construction projects, and the construction would take 35 years to complete.

If the Northern Beltline is completed, it is only expected to relieve traffic congestion by 1-3 percent.

“I just want St. Clair County to be aware,” Rogers said.  “This may not be the best investment given that the federal pot of money is shrinking, not growing.

“We need to work on making our voice heard sooner rather than later.  It will be harder to change course later on,” Rogers said.

Mayor Bill Hereford said the city initially endorsed the project before the new bill was passed.