[ajfroggie]

However, it takes more than just an Interstate highway running through the area to make it attractive to industry. By your logic, Greene and Sumter Counties should be fricking booming (since they have I-20/59 running through). Last I checked, they were just as bad as the rest of the "Black Belt".

No, it takes more than an Interstate. It also takes *EDUCATION* and having a skilled workforce to tap into. Furthermore, it also takes a bit of proaction on the part of both the government *AND* the public in the area to recruit industry. This is one big reason why Meridian, MS, despite its excellent location and transportation assets, is barely hanging on...their leaders aren't being proactive the way they should be and IMO are backing the wrong horses...

Lastly, when it comes to transportation funding, and how scarce transportation dollars are, potential projects need to be priortized based on other more pertinent factors...safety...road condition (i.e. need for reconstruction)...and congestion. Economic development, IMO, is *LAST* on the list of factors to be considered.

Relating that to Alabama, Corridor X is justified due to its heavy truck traffic and safety issues. The US 80 corridor just barely justifies a 4-lane corridor. There aren't many safety problems along it, and traffic just isn't heavy enough to support a freeway. It CERTAINLY doesn't justify an Interstate highway...