Posted by Dale Liesch | Jul 27, 2022 | Latest, News | 0 |

The once famously dead Mobile River Bridge and Bayway project has been resurrected by the Metropolitan Planning organizations in Mobile and the Eastern Shore, after votes Wednesday morning. 

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey might’ve been the one to call the project “dead” in 2019, but Mobile Mayor and MPO Chairman Sandy Stimpson told members of the press following the group’s unanimous decision to make the project eligible for federal funding that the governor never gave up on it. 

“Gov. Ivey never really stopped working,” Stimpson said. “She never stopped working on it and it took a collaboration between the Mobile and Eastern Shore MPOs to get back to this point.” 

The organizations representing the cities and counties that make up the two areas connected by the project both voted to add it to the areas’ Transportation Improvement Plans  (TIP), which would make it eligible to receive federal funding and move it forward in the process.

“This is the step that counts,” retired South Alabama Regional Planning Commission Transportation Director Kevin Harrison said. “This puts the project into the TIP. This project is now shovel-ready.” 

The Eastern Shore MPO, at a meeting in Daphne, voted at the same time to add the project to its TIP. 

“Today’s vote was a landmark moment for Baldwin County,” ESMPO Chairman and Fairhope City Councilman Jack Burrell said in a statement. “The Eastern Shore has grown by leaps and bounds over the past decades and our infrastructure has not kept pace. Today’s vote paves the way for providing the traffic relief we need in a way that makes sense for Baldwin County drivers.” 

Since the project’s defeat at the hands of MPO members in 2019, the Alabama Department of Transportation and local leaders have worked to put together a more palatable plan. The latest iteration of the plan will create a new six-lane, cable-stay bridge with a minimum of 215 feet air draft clearance above the Mobile River ship channel. The spans will begin just east of Virginia Street and will end between the Bayway bridges. The interchanges at Virginia Street, Texas Street, Canal Street and Water Street will be updated to improve traffic flow.

The project also calls for a new Bayway that is 12-feet higher than the original to match federal storm surge guidelines. The midbay interchanges on the Bayway will also be updated to improve traffic flow. The original Bayway will remain in use until the new one is completed. 

The total project will cost an estimated $2.7 billion and will be paid for through a combination of state, federal and tolling funds. These funds will include at least $250 million from the state, $125 million from the federal government. An additional $500 million could be made available through a mega grant related to President Joe Biden’s infrastructure plan. ALDOT has applied for that funding. 

Harrison said another $900 million in funding described as “other” could be paid for, at least in part, by tolling. 

The toll for everyday vehicles starts at $2.50 for users who have an ALGO pass and will rise to $5.50 for those who don’t. 

ALDOT officials have said the passes will be readily available and easy to acquire at a price of between $5 and $15 per year. Commuters who use the bridge often can spend $40 per month, plus the cost of the Algo transponder, to go across the bay. For weekday commuters that makes the toll less than $1 per day each way. 

Tolls for large trucks will be higher. The tolled route will range from $18 or less for trucks with an ALGO pass to $31.50 for trucks without a pass. 

A number of free routes for both everyday vehicles and trucks will remain open, including the Bankhead and Wallace tunnels, as well as the Africatown USA Bridge. 

The biggest difference between the 2019 defeat and now, Stimpson said, is the drop in price for the tolls and the availability of free routes. Also, there will be no involvement from a private company to finance or run the bridge. 

ALDOT Regional Engineer Edwin Perry said the technical work that was previously done for the bridge project in 2019 can still be used for the latest project development. The project’s progressive design-build phase, which will see a contractor and design group working together makes him confident that the project can meet its aggressive five-year timeline. If the project begins next year, ALDOT estimates it will be completed by 2028. 

The Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce supports the project, President and CEO Bradley Byrne said in a statement. 

“Our region is making transformative improvements to our seaport and airport that will benefit everyone who lives and works in our area. I applaud Mayor Stimpson and the members of both MPOs for their leadership on this important issue,”  he said. “If we’re going to grow this economy, we have to build the bridge.”

The Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce also supported the vote. 

“Building the bridge is essential to maintain and enhance our quality of life in our region and for our communities,” Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce President Casey Williams said. “Business and industry are the heartbeat of our economy and the bridge is critical to moving Coastal Alabama forward.”

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Dale Liesch has been a reporter at Lagniappe since February 2014. He covers all aspects of the city of Mobile, including the mayor, City Council, the Mobile Housing Board of Commissioners, GulfQuest National Maritime Museum of the Gulf of Mexico and others. He studied journalism at The University of Alabama and graduated in 2007. He came to Lagniappe, after several years in the newspaper industry. He achieved the position of news editor at The Alexander City Outlook before moving to Virginia and then subsequently moving back a few years later. He has a number of Alabama and Virginia Press association awards to his name. He grew up in the wilderness of Baldwin County, among several different varieties of animals including: dogs, cats, ducks, chickens, a horse and an angry goat. He now lives in the Oakleigh neighborhood of Mobile with his wife, Hillary, and daughter, Joan. The family currently has no goats, angry or otherwise, but is ruled by the whims of two very energetic dogs.