This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter at insideclimatenews.org/newsletter.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Driving north on Alabama Highway 79 in late October offers a stunning vista of the rolling Appalachian foothills. Splashes of yellow, orange and red have emerged among the green, tree-covered hillsides as fall arrives outside Alabama’s largest metro area.
The road narrows to two lanes about 15 miles outside of downtown Birmingham, but this stretch could be almost anywhere in rural Alabama. Mailboxes along the highway indicate residences hidden among the trees. The only non-residential properties are the Agape Church, Leeroy’s Dynamite Fireworks store and the Pinson Truck Equipment Co., a trailer repair business.
But this quiet, rural countryside may not stay rural or quiet for very long.
Someday it will become part of the Birmingham Northern Beltline, a $5 billion project to build a 52-mile stretch of interstate highway north of the city and complete a full loop.