PINSON, Ala. -- On planners' maps, the Northern Beltline is a 52-mile, six-lane interstate that completes a loop around Birmingham, Ala. More than a half-century after the freeway's conception, work on a small segment began last year as the price tag for the whole project ballooned to $5.4 billion. Business leaders and politicians who have doggedly pursued the highway say it's essential to spawning jobs and new business, but project foes call it the "Alabama Porkway" and "a road to nowhere."