More than a year ago, at the annual Alabama Republican Party winter dinner, former President Donald Trump pledged that one of his first orders of business would be to widen Interstate 65 from Huntsville to Birmingham.
Trump was reelected to the presidency on Tuesday and will be sworn in early next year.
During an appearance on Mobile radio FM Talk 106.5's "The Jeff Poor Show," Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth, an avid proponent of widening I-65 statewide, said he planned to remind Trump about that pledge sometime during the early stages of his administration.
"I'm all for it," Ainsworth explained. "I mean, once President Trump gets sworn in, I'm going to go certainly see him in D.C. and talk to him about how we can make that reality in Alabama and appreciate the president's support. And the thing about President Trump — he always is going to support common sense. He's always going to support things that are going to help economic development. And this is a great investment in our country and in our state on 65 to widen the six lanes. And so I look forward to talking with him about how we can work together, how we can get this done. And there's a great thing about this that I've been talking about for years on 65, which is that when there's an interstate project like this, you know, almost all of it is going to qualify for 80% of federal funds."
"And there might even be some that could qualify for 90%," he continued. "So when you look at that and just, you know, the amount of tourism we have, and the amount of people that are traveling through our state, and how Alabama is booming from an economic standpoint. And it's our main artery for, you know, all the different companies transporting goods. You know, and I think President Trump, you know, what he's wanting to do with manufacturing, and, you know, just all the manufacturing jobs we have here. You know, it's, I think it's a easy pitch to him, and the fact that he already agreed to support that's great. We just got to explain to him, you know, how we can get that done. And obviously, it's going to take a while. You know, it's probably a 10-year project, but it's a project that needs to happen."
Ainsworth acknowledged that the first two years of the Trump presidency would coincide with the final two years of the Ivey administration. That would require some buy-in from Gov. Kay Ivey.
"Yeah, I think, you know, on 65, I think, you know, there's a mandate from people in the state if they want that done, right? I think hands down, that's one of the most popular issues I've ever been involved in. Everybody wants it. Very rare, I mean, you know, I'm talking about, like, two to three percent, right? Or people that say, we don't need to do this or do something else. And so I think, you know, from that standpoint, I think Governor Ivey has already started the process of widening some of 65. And if we can get the federal government's help to expedite that. And again, this is just something we need to get funding for the long term. And, you know, I'm confident that our congressmen, men and women, and as well as our U.S. senators, will certainly push hard for that and it's something we can get done."
Jeff Poor is the editor in chief of 1819 News and host of "The Jeff Poor Show," heard Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-noon on Mobile's FM Talk 106.5. To connect or comment, email jeff.poor@1819News.com or follow him on Twitter @jeff_poor.
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