FAIRHOPE – Baldwin and Mobile officials plan to ask Gov. Kay Ivey and the Alabama Department of Transportation to look at options to get the Interstate 10 Mobile River bridge project back on track.
Fairhope City Council President Jack Burrell told Eastern Shore Metropolitan Planning Organization members Wednesday, Jan. 27, that he had asked Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson to send a joint letter from the two MPOs asking state officials to resume plans for the project.
Burrell is chairman of the Eastern Shore MPO. Stimpson is chairman of the Mobile MPO. The MPOs oversee funding for regional road projects.
Plans to build the new bridge and expand the Bayway was called off in 2019 when the Eastern Shore Metropolitan Planning Organization removed the project from its Transportation Improvement Plan. The removal made the $2.1-billion project ineligible for federal funding. After the vote, Ivey said the move by the MPO killed the bridge project.
The proposed toll on the bridge and Bayway was $6 for a one-way trip in a car, according to reports at the time. Members of the MPO said in 2019 that the toll would hurt the local economy and be too expensive for many residents.
On Wednesday, Burrell told members of the MPO Policy Board that the letter could be a first step to get the project moving again.
“This is just a non-binding letter,” Burrell said. “This is not placing it on the TIP and I do not want to get into the weeds about what we want and don't necessarily want, but I would like to ask her to ask ALDOT to work with us on solutions and I believe they will be receptive to this and I believe that it will get the ball rolling again.”
Members of the MPO voted to approve drafting a letter but said any new plan should not include tolls on existing routes across Mobile Bay.
“One of the key components to this letter will be to preserve the existing toll-free routes,” Burrell said. “I think that everybody on this Policy Board would agree that's a key component and will definitely be stated.”
Baldwin County Commissioner Joe Davis, also an MPO member, said the plan should also include improvements at Baldwin exits, such as I-10 Exit 35.
“Everybody understands the need and I think this letter requesting a discussion, because it's the topic that we've got to get before everyone,” Davis said. “The options and the details can be worked out. My personal thought is we've got to make sure the Causeway has access in and out and that Exit 35 is greatly improved. I want the mayor of Mobile to get his bridge, but I want us to make sure that we have connections to Baldwin County because as the fastest growing county and going to be the fourth-largest in population, this is critical and it won't happen overnight, but it's got to be put forward.”
Davis said residents of other areas that have tolled routes said fees can work if drivers also have free options.
“One hundred percent have said that if all your locals have a free option, tolls can work,” Davis said. “That previous thing we dealt with didn't meet that criteria and I'm confident that going forward that's what the criteria will focus on and we'll be able to improve traffic between Baldwin and Mobile.”
Burrell said the final project could include tolls on the new bridge, but not on roads now being used.
“We're going to ask them to look at a bridge which preserves toll-free options for our residents,” Burrell said. “I'm not going to tell you that the plans that they're looking at is a toll-free plan. I'm not saying necessarily we're saying no toll, no bridge, because as long as there are those legacy routes preserved, I believe that if you have a pay-for-use route, I don't think the public would necessarily be against it, because they have the option to traverse across the bay via a free legacy route.”
The MPO also approved adding other improvements along I-10 in Baldwin County. The Policy Board voted to approve plans for expansion of the interstate from the Bayway to Alabama 181. Construction of that project will cost about $17.88 million, according to MPO reports.
Burrell said some residents would like to see the highway widened to at least Alabama 59 in Loxley or beyond.
“I've heard it mentioned that there should be a widening from where this would terminate on I-10 a half-mile east of 181 to 59,” Burrell said. “I've even heard it mentioned by citizens and Policy Board members as well that it should even be widened to the Foley Beach Express exit.”
