WOLF BAY – Debated for decades, but always indefinitely postponed, Wolf Bay Bridge, connecting Alabama 161 in Orange Beach to Sapling Point outside Josephine, is tiptoeing ahead as a feasibility study gives the go and the Orange Beach city government grabs land needed to construct the 3 / 4 mile span. 

The study, conducted by Figg Engineering Group, a national firm with an office based in Fairhope, estimated that the bridge and the extension of Alabama 161 to U.S. 98 or I-10 would cost in the range of $80 to $110 million. 

The cost reflects 2007 dollars, but the estimate was increased 30 percent to account for inflation, including material and construction costs in 2010. 

Patrick P. Hickox, senior vice president and construction engineering director for Figg, who’s also project director for the Wolf Bay study, said the span would alleviate “regional connection issues” by “creating another major north-south connection for the county.”

“Ultimately, the first goal is to create an additional evacuation route for the island,” he added.

The route, he said, was determined previously by the Alabama Department of Transportation.  In 1996, the department concluded a study that pinpointed a plausible route from Orange Beach to U.S. 98 and I-10. 

Specifically, the bridge would begin near the intersection of Alabama 161 and 180, span Wolf Bay via the island and Sapling Point, and then connect with County Road 95.

The Figg study assessed the economic feasibility of the route finding that it could net $320 million in revenue over a 25-year period with a $1.75 as the average toll. 

The toll would be adjusted over time due to inflation.   

The revenue figure is driven by steady economic and population growth projections for the beach cities and potential Wolf Bay development in the largely undeveloped land tracts north of Sapling Point. 

“Interviews with stakeholders and developers indicated significant new development is anticipated in the undeveloped area north of the (intercoastal) waterway,” the report stated.  “Developers report that building will accelerate with the opening of the bridge…(and) development is expected to begin coming on line in 2010.”

The study, according to interviews with stakeholders and developers, estimated that 5,500 condos and 6,100 single-family homes could be built north of the intercoastal, pending market conditions and economic uncertainties, along with apartments, retail space, hotels, marinas and golf courses.

If beach development settles below growth projections and Wolf Bay meets 50 percent of expected development, the most likely scenario, the bridge corridor is estimated to earn $278 million in toll-revenue by 2030, according to the study.

Orange Beach paid approximately $400,000 for the feasibility study, said Jeff Moon, city administrator. 

He said the city finalized the purchase of five-bay front lots between Alabama 161 and Wolf Bay.

The property will serve as the launching point for the bridge.