DAPHNE — State highway officials will be seeking funding under new federal infrastructure legislation to pay some of the cost of the planned Interstate 10 bridge over the Mobile River and route …
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DAPHNE — State highway officials will be seeking funding under new federal infrastructure legislation to pay some of the cost of the planned Interstate 10 bridge over the Mobile River and route across Mobile Bay.
At a meeting of the Eastern Shore Metropolitan Planning Organization on Wednesday, April 27, Matt Ericksen, division engineer with the Alabama Department of Transportation, said state officials are preparing an application for funding under the Mega grant program that is part of infrastructure legislation passed recently by Congress.
"We are doing a lot of hard work on our grant applications," Ericksen told MPO members. "We are working on the Mega grant application that is due on May 23 to the USDOT. We actually have to enter it into the system about a week before, so this is a very compressed time to get these applications submitted and we're working hard on that."
The grant requires that the agency receiving the money pay 40% of the cost of the project and the federal government pay 60%. A 2019 estimate put the total cost of the project at $2.1 billion. Ericksen said planners are working on new estimates based on recent cost increases.
"It's a challenging time right now to determine what pricing is going to be," Ericksen said. "We are working through that."
He said the state has committed to paying $250 million for the project. Some of the costs will also be paid through tolls charged on the bridge and Bayway.
Ericksen said the toll for passenger cars will be $2.50 and a discounted pass program with a monthly fee will also be available. The tolls will end when the cost of the project is paid.
"The most emphasis and the most work right now has to do with our traffic and revenue study," Ericksen said. "As we work on these flat rates, and we work on our detailed cost estimate is figure what our gap is on funding and there are just a lot of iterations that are involved in that and a lot of back and forth with our consultants that are doing our traffic and revenue study."
He said the project is expected to take five years to complete once construction begins. State officials are now working on acquiring property for the right of way. Ericksen said all but one parcel needed for the project have been acquired.
The state is also working on the project management plan for the work and environmental and archaeological studies. Ericksen said the archaeological studies are being conducted by the University of South Alabama and should be completed in about six months.