Alabama Seeks Permit to Fill Wetlands, Streams for Controversial Highway Project
Key takeaways
- June 25, 2026 Share This Article Republish Contractors working for the Alabama Department of Transportation build new bridges for the Birmingham Northern Beltline.
- The Alabama Department of Transportation is requesting a permit from the U.S.
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June 25, 2026 Share This Article Republish Contractors working for the Alabama Department of Transportation build new bridges for the Birmingham Northern Beltline. Credit: Lee Hedgepeth/Inside Climate News Related A Proposed Alabama Data Center Faces New Hurdles: A ‘Road to Nowhere’ and the Birmingham Darter Who Pays for Alabama’s $5 Billion ‘Zombie’ Highway Project? Not Alabama Critics Say Alabama’s $5 Billion Highway Project Is a ‘Road to Nowhere,’ but the State Is Pushing Forward Share This Article Republish Most Popular As Colorado River States Struggle to Reach Agreement, New Mexico Brings on a Fresh Voice Trump Administration Abandons Fight Against Wind Energy as Clean Energy Output Surges How a Tiny Texas River Agency Plans to Build the Largest Desalination Plant in the Country Alabama officials are seeking federal permission to fill a stretch of wetlands and streams to move forward on the Birmingham Northern Beltline, a decades-long highway project that critics say is unnecessary and will destroy huge swaths of sensitive forests, wetlands and streams.
The Alabama Department of Transportation is requesting a 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 to build the next phase of the beltline, a 9.5-mile stretch of interstate highway north of Birmingham.
The Corps is taking public comments on the application through Saturday. The Army’s public notice about the project states that the applicant plans to purchase wetland and stream credits from an approved mitigation bank to offset the project’s “unavoidable impacts to waters of the United States.”