The City of Gulf Shores and Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) have had back-to-back construction projects across Baldwin County lined up this year.

The Beach Express (State Road 161) has been open for over a month over the Intracoastal Waterway, connecting access between Gulf Shores and Orange Beach. James Gordon, Alabama Department of Transportation public information officer, said the reasoning behind the new two-lane bridge south, and the two-lane former toll bridge by The Wharf going north, “allows us to get more capacity, more vehicles, on and off the island quicker and safer.”

However, the project is not done yet.

The Beach Express project will be fully completed after the north roundabout connecting Canal Road is finished, which will be within the next month, according to Gordon. A left-turn lane has been added to the Wharf bridge for those coming from Gulf Shores to merge into their own lane beside those turning right onto the bridge from Orange Beach.

The Intracoastal Waterway bridge will also allow easier access to Gulf Shores International Airport, said Grant Brown, director of recreation and cultural affairs and public information officer for Gulf Shores. The Waterway East project will extend the section from 2nd Street to the edge of the right-of-way for the Beach Express for the first phase of construction. Then, the second phase will connect Waterway East to north of the new bridge.

“People will be able to come back to Gulf Shores on the north side of the canal and go past the south side of the airport all the way to Hwy. 59,” Brown said.

The Waterway East project is expected to be completed by the end of the summer and before a grant deadline in September.

Just to the west, the Hwy. 59 expansion has been an ongoing project for the past two years, but officials say it’s on track to finish in early August.

Clint Clovin, capital projects director for Gulf Shores, said the Waterway Pedestrian Bridge crew is currently working on the towers and looking to set the actual bridge structure in September. The completion date is Jan. 8.