Widening Interstate 65 from the Tennessee state line south to Mobile will be a long and expensive process that should not be the No. 1 transportation priority over other “immediate problems,” Alabama House Speaker Nathanial Ledbetter said Thursday.

The House Speaker — the chamber’s most powerful political figure — says he favors getting a start on adding additional lanes to I-65, where they are needed. He also said he supported Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey’s approach in utilizing fuel tax revenues to address pressing bottlenecks around the state.

“I do think we need to work on 65, and we got to start,” said Ledbetter, R-Rainville. “The thing is to expand (I-65) from one side of the state to the other will not only take a long time, it will take a lot of money. We need to look at immediate problems.”

Simultaneous work

Ledbetter also said the state can address both I-65 lane’s widening, and building additional lanes to U.S. 43 in West Alabama. The two projects, over the past several months, have been put up against one another as local and state officials statewide have debated Alabama’s transportation priorities on major projects.

He compared the situation to the Legislature’s decision last spring to offer both a tax rebate and a tax cut on groceries at the same time.

State lawmakers in May passed the rebate plan that calls for $150 rebates for single people and $300 for married couples. The checks are expected to go out by Dec. 1. The state’s 4 percent sales tax cut on groceries was dropped to 3 percent on Sept. 1.

“I told the governor we can do both and we did and were able to get them done,” Ledbetter said. “I think we need to do both (U.S. 43 and I-65 widening). But we got to do it in a business manner.”

His comments echo Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey who, in September, said the two projects can occur at the same time and should not be considered an “either-or proposition.”

Portions of I-65 are part of a widening project. Ivey’s administration included a widening of the interstate from Alabaster to Calera as part of a $500 million project package announced in late August.

Ainsworth’s position

Republican Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth, a likely candidate for governor in 2026, has led the push for prioritizing I-65 lane’s widening by snapping pictures of traffic jams and tweeting out his frustration over the condition of the state’s main north-south interstate.

His push caught the attention of former President Donald Trump who, in August, pledged to make I-65 a priority if he wins re-election to the White House next year.

“Will is a great friend of mine,” Ledbetter said. “I think the world of him. If he runs for governor, I’ll support him. We don’t agree on everything.”

Ainsworth, the state’s No. 2 elected official, has criticized the Ivey administration’s transportation priorities by focusing on adding lanes to U.S. 43 from Moundville to Thomasville for approximately 80 miles and through rural West Alabama. He said that project — called the West Alabama Highway Corridor — has “less than 1/20th of the traffic count” as I-65.

Ainsworth has since clarified that he is supportive of the project, and visited with Thomasville Mayor Sheldon Day in August to discuss the project. Ainsworth believes federal money should be pursued to pay for that project.

“Lt. Gov. Ainsworth agrees with Speaker Ledbetter that we can address both immediate transportation concerns and the long term goal of widening I-65 at the same time,” said Catherine Fuller, Ainsworth’s deputy chief of staff. “His position has always been that the longer (the Alabama Department of Transportation) delays in widening I-65, the longer it will take to complete, so the time to start the project is now.”

Finite resources

Alabama State Senator Chris Elliott, R-Josephine, said his concern with Ledbetter’s approach — and the same with Ivey’s position — is that “resources are finite” and the costs for transportation projects are escalating.

“The resources need to be there to accomplish these goals that will require us to continue to look at the efficacy of projects,” Elliott said.

Elliott has pushed for the Ivey administration to disclose a cost estimate to the West Alabama Highway Corridor. ALDOT engineers have since said there is no one overall cost estimate for the entire project. The project is considered a progressive design-build in which the state will negotiate and execute design and engineering contracts before proceeding with construction. The project will be handled in sections — not all at once — and has no definitive timetable for completion.

ALDOT officials have said that once section is completed, it can be opened to traffic while other sections are under construction.

Elliott has expressed concerns about the state borrowing against future fuel tax revenues to pay for the project and hampering future administrations from pursuing their transportation priorities. State officials have acknowledged they could borrow 30 to 35 percent on future fuel tax revenues to proceed with the project.

Elliott has also expressed concerns in a lack of federal participation in the West Alabama Highway corridor.

“The problem is they don’t have a budget number, a cost estimate and this is another project where the costs have likely doubled from what was proposed,” said Elliott. op transportation issue ahead of other projects that are generating support from Ivey’s administration.