rich 1.0 Action Network https://actionnetwork.org <link href='https://actionnetwork.org/css/style-embed-v3.css' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css' /><script src='https://actionnetwork.org/widgets/v6/petition/petition-to-protect-vital-creeks-from-the-northern-beltline?format=js&source=widget'></script><div id='can-petition-area-petition-to-protect-vital-creeks-from-the-northern-beltline' style='width: 100%'><!-- this div is the target for our HTML insertion --></div> Black Warrior Riverkeeper Action Alerts https://actionnetwork.org/groups/black-warrior-riverkeeper-action-alert-response-team https://can2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/petitions/photos/000/772/158/normal/Road-to-Nowhere.jpg Please take this opportunity to comment on the proposed discharge of fill material associated with the construction of a 9.5-mile segment of the Northern Beltline [Permit Application Number SAM-2011-01079-CMS] and its impacts to Cunningham Creek, Flat Creek, North Creek, and Turkey Creek. The Northern Beltline is a proposed 52-mile highway arcing through northern and western Jefferson County around Birmingham, with an intended purpose of opening up areas for development. The Federal Highway Administration now estimates the project will cost over $5 billion, making it the most expensive road project in Alabama’s history at $96.3 million per mile. The proposed route is the longest, costliest and most environmentally destructive of the 7 routes originally considered. The Northern Beltline would cross and permanently alter Black Warrior and Cahaba River tributaries in 90 places, and it would impact 35 different wetlands and 3,078 football fields' worth of forest. If completed, the road would only relieve 1-3% of traffic on I-20/59 through downtown Birmingham, at the cost of degrading the city’s air quality, water quality, forested acreage, and wetlands. https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/petition-to-protect-vital-creeks-from-the-northern-beltline