North-south freeway would benefit state

Consult MapQuest for a route from Florence to Mobile, and you’ll see an arc on the map that goes east, then along Interstate 65, then curls back to the west — far from a straight line.

To get you to Mobile from Tuscaloosa, MapQuest will make a similar arc to the west, through Mississippi.

There’s no good way to travel north-south through West Alabama. People have complained about it for a long time. And the state is again thinking about action.

Lt. Gov. Jim Folsom wants a legislative commission to study how to pay for a nearly 300-mile freeway and build it. He announced his proposal at a news conference last week, along with 17 legislators of both parties.

People who travel that part of the state would welcome such a road for convenience and safety. You could say this about most new highways.

But this road is unique. It would pass through the most economically deprived areas of the state, including the Black Belt. It would give these areas a boost in economic development and would provide badly needed jobs. And it would fill a transportation gap for other parts of the state, benefiting them economically, too.

Building such a highway is more complicated than it used to be.

To start, it’s much more expensive. Tony Harris, a spokesman for the state Department of Transportation, said it could require $5 billion — 21/2 times as much as the state’s mainline interstate system, whose construction started 52 years ago.

Gov. Bob Riley wants the Legislature to pass a toll-road bill. With the price of gasoline today, most thinking motorists would gladly pay a small toll to save significant mileage.

Environmental impact is another consideration. Highways destroy natural resources, disrupt and kill wildlife, and alter people’s lives. We are much more concerned about such matters than we used to be, and for good reasons.

Solving West Alabama’s transportation and economic problems won’t get any easier as time goes on. This commission needs to get serious and develop a plan.