The Coalition for Regional Transportation (CRT) has sent a letter to Gov. Kay Ivey asking the state to intervene before the City of Bessemer approves the current plan for a controversial data center.
"The proposed data center in Bessemer and the Northern Beltline are on a preventable collision course. Several of the data center's eighteen proposed buildings are directly overlapping the adopted footprint of the Beltline's planned future interchange with I-459," Michael Staley, executive director of the CRT, said in the letter.
"ALDOT and Bessemer are not moving to stop this conflict, but they are standing by while it unfolds," Staley told 1819 News in a written statement. "That lack of action gives the appearance of consent — and it's an unacceptable risk to one of Alabama's most important infrastructure projects."
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In the letter to Ivey, which was copied to U.S. Sens. Katie Britt (R-Montgomery) and Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn), U.S. Reps. Terri Sewell (D-Birmingham) and Gary Palmer (R-Hoover), along with local leaders including Jefferson County Commission President Jimmie Stephens and Bessemer Mayor Kenneth Gulley, urged the State to use its authority as project sponsor to protect the interchange and preserve Alabama's long-term infrastructure priorities.
"We also urge you to condition any state funding or incentives for the data center on enabling the Northern Beltline's future connection at I-459, preserving multiple future economic and community development opportunities along the Northern Beltline route between I-459 and I-22," he said.
The data center has been a source of conflict for locals and their elected officials for months, with overwhelming opposition at public meetings. In August, residents won a brief reprieve when the Council voted to send the issue back to the Planning and Zoning Commission.
Earlier this month, however, new life was breathed into the project when the city voted to add data centers to light industrial zoning.
"We have certain organizations like EPA, ADEM, different state and federal programs and agencies to make sure this project is done the appropriate way, and I'm satisfied that all those agencies will do their job in making sure all I's are dotted and t's are crossed," said Mayor Kenneth Gulley about residents environmental concerns, according to a report by ABC3340.
According to the ALDOT website, when completed, the Northern Beltline will be a 52-mile interstate connecting the I-459 interchange with I-59/20 near Bessemer to I-59 in northeast Jefferson County, providing Birmingham with a "northern loop" to go along with its I-459 "southern loop," which was completed in the 1980s.
The Jefferson County Forward Together Comprehensive Plan, which was officially adopted in September, underlines the importance of the Northern Beltline, calling it a "transformative infrastructure investment," saying that it will "enhance access to underserved areas, foster economic development, and alleviate congestion.
Staley's letter reiterated the message he gave before the Bessemer Planning and Zoning Commission on September 16, noting that the Coalition for Regional Transportation "is not taking a position for or against the proposed data-center project."
According to Staley, if unaddressed, the current site plan would cut the Beltline off at I-22, abandoning its long-planned connection to I-459 — the critical link needed to unlock economic growth, job creation, and freight mobility across western Jefferson County.
Jefferson County Commission President Jimmie Stephens echoed that concern: "Jefferson County has planned for the Northern Beltline's completion for years because it represents our best opportunity to expand economic growth into underserved areas," Stephens said in a statement provided to 1819 News. "Municipalities along the corridor must show the same foresight. Allowing conflicting projects to move forward without coordination risks undermining the very progress the Beltline was designed to deliver."
"This isn't about choosing one project over another," Staley added. "With foresight and leadership, Alabama can have both — immediate high-tech investment and long-term infrastructure that will fuel economic growth for decades. What we can't afford is the political hesitation that trades away Alabama's future connectivity for short-term convenience."
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