On The Line: Fixing 280

It’s the road you love to hate. But state officials say they have a plan to ease congestion on U.S. 280. Some business leaders like the idea. Local government officials are split on it. And a group of citizens has proposed an alternative plan. Friday (4/30) at noon on WBHM we discuss all this and more during On The Line: Fixing 280.

Join the conversation by calling 1-800-444-9246 during the program or send your comments/questions to [email protected], @WBHM903 (Twitter) or WBHM 90.3 (Facebook).

Joe McInnes has been executive director of the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) since 2003. Mr. McInnes comes to ALDOT from the private sector. He worked for Blount International for 25 years and retired as Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer.

Mr. McInnes has a long history of civic and community involvement, with past service as President of the Montgomery United Way, President of the Tuckabatchee Area Council Boy Scouts of America, Director of the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce, Director of the Alabama Humanities Foundation and Trustee of the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts.

Bill Foisy is Director of Planning for the Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birminghm. He holds an undergraduate degree in Business from the University of Georgia and a graduate degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Tennessee. He is responsible for working with elected officials concerning short-range and long-range economic/demographic forecasting, major highway planning, transit project programming, intermodal issues (freight), bicycle/pedestrian planning, and air quality issues in Jefferson and Shelby Counties under the Federal Highway Administration, Federal Transit Administration, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Mike Kaczorowski is a professional engineer with the Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham. He is originally from Tallahassee, Florida where he worked for the Florida Department of Transportation for several years before moving to Utah in 1998 to manage an Olympic Transportation Planning project for the 2002 Winter Games. After the Olympics, he went to work for the Utah Department of Transportation starting in the Planning Department, and then moving to the Traffic & Safety division where he managed the Highway Safety Improvement Program and the Safe Routes to School Program. In addition to his other responsibilities, he is currently project manager for two transit studies in the Birmingham metro area.