Good idea

Black Belt roads eyed for upgrade

I don't know that it goes far enough. The main points seem to be widening US Highways 80, 84, and 43. I've been critical in the past of the "Road to Nowhere" as I called it, a proposed extension of I-85 from Montgomery to somewhere vague in Mississippi. I think that the problem is that instead of east-west highways to nowhere in particular, what's needed is more north-south routes.

Most the interstates in Alabama run basically east-west, with one primary north-south route, I-65 from Huntsville to Birmingham to Montomery to Mobile. (The other "north-south" interstates really run more northeast-southwest.) In the western part of the state (where I live) it's a pain to get anywhere north or south, or really anywhere but Birmingham really. An interstate along the US 43 corridor (Florence to Tuscaloosa to Demopolis to Mobile) would be wonderful. But even a four-lane surface highway would help a lot.

The point being that unlike the Road to Nowhere, this would be a road to somewhere, to the Gulf Coast, to the second-largest city in the state. It would probably be a faster route from Birmingham to Mobile than 65, though the people down in Montgomery probably wouldn't like that. Anyway, while it's important for local development to have highway access, building highways that nobody uses is not a proper use of resources. I think a highway on the 43 corridor might get used.