BNI News Service

U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby has developed quite the ability to get local projects pushed through Washington, D.C. After watching one of his projects nearly disappear, Shelby has come back swinging.

A U.S. Senate Committee has approved a $50 million appropriation to the Delta Regional Authority, and Shelby wants that money used for one specific project.

According to a release from his office, the bill allotting $50 million to transportation improvements “provides for priority consideration of the East-West Corridor realignment and reconstruction between Cuba, Ala., and Montgomery.”

The Delta Regional Authority, formed nearly four years ago, was developed to help improve the infrastructure in much of the southern United States. Though Alabama’s Black Belt is rarely considered part of the Delta Region, Shelby politically strong-armed 20 Alabama counties into the federal agency.

But the DRA has not performed like Washington politicians had hoped, and last year, the agency that once received $20 million in one year had its appropriation cut to $5 million. That $5 million was to be spread across more than 240 counties and parishes in eight states.

In pushing the appropriation through a Senate committee, Shelby said it’s important for the U.S. Government to understand the correlation between good roads and good jobs.

“The link between the transportation infrastructure and economic development is unmistakable,” he said. “Establishing a transportation program specifically for the Delta Region is a crucial step toward promoting economic development, raising the standard of living, and improving the quality of life in this traditionally impoverished region.”

In 2000, Shelby first discussed the idea of linking Interstate 85 with Interstate 59/20 in Cuba. During a town hall meeting in Selma, Shelby said he saw no reason for the major corridor to stop in Montgomery and pledged he would work to extend that section of I-85 all the way to Mississippi.

Since then, numerous politicians have jumped on board. U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions and U.S. Rep. Artur Davis have been staunch supporters of the proposal, and both will have a hand in determining whether or not the $50 million actually finds its way to the I-85 corridor project.

Though the appropriation bill has passed a Senate committee, it now must be passed by the entire U.S. Senate. Once that happens, the U.S. House of Representatives must pass the bill. If any changes are made to the transportation bill, it goes back to a conference committee until all politicians agree on the final language.

In essence, it could take months before citizens in West Alabama and the Black Belt know whether or not $50 million will be available to continue preliminary work on an interstate corridor that links this region with the rest of the United States.