Birmingham Northern Beltline

Future Interstate 422
Corridor X-1
Proposed Birmingham Northern Beltline corridor highlighted in red
Route information
Auxiliary route of I-22
Maintained by ALDOT
Length	52.5 mi[1] (84.5 km)
Major junctions
South end	I-20 / I-59 / I-459 / US 11 south of Bessemer
Major intersections	SR 269 at Sylvan Springs I-222 to I-22 / US 78 at Adamsville I-65 at Morris US 31 at Morris SR 79 at Pinson SR 75 at Pinson I-59 at Argo
North end	US 11 near Argo
Location
Country	United States
State	Alabama
Counties	Jefferson
Highway system
Interstate Highway System Main Auxiliary Suffixed Business Future Alabama State Highway System Interstate US State
← US 411 I-422 → US 431 ← SR 759 → SR 1

Interstate 422 (I-422), Corridor X-1, or the Birmingham Northern Beltline is a proposed 52.5-mile-long (84.5 km) northern bypass route around Birmingham, Alabama, through northern and western Jefferson County that is projected to be completed by 2047.^[2] Along with the existing I-459, the Northern Beltline would complete the bypass loop of central Birmingham for all Interstate traffic. The project's budget is $5.445 billion; upon completion, the Northern Beltline will be the most expensive road in Alabama's history, and among the most expensive per mile ever built in the United States.^[2] The route was first conceived in the 1960s, but funding issues and pushback from environmental activists have stalled the project for decades with only a short, unused segment being constructed in the mid-2010s. A 10-mile-long (16 km) section between Gardendale and Pinson was funded in spring 2023, but the start of construction was delayed by another complaint before construction on the initial unused segment resumed in Summer 2024.

Current plans for the route have it connecting to I-59 at I-459's current southern terminus in Bessemer, at approximately milemarker 147 to the northeast of Trussville, near Argo. Additional studies are underway to determine the economic feasibility to continue the route from its proposed northeastern terminus southward to I-20 in the Leeds–Moody area in western St. Clair county.

The route has been designated as the Appalachian Regional Commission's high-priority Corridor X-1, unsigned State Route 959 (SR 959), and I-422. The 422 numbering does not conform to normal Interstate guidelines, since it only crosses its "parent" route I-22 in the middle (and will connect only via I-222), while bypass and loop routes are usually numbered by the route connected to at or near each end, which would result in the use of a route number such as "I-659".