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The Truck Bridge will dramatically reduce average passenger car delays by reducing congestion on I-10 and across the Bayway.
No tolls means no stressful changes to your commute. All existing routes will remain unchanged.
The new route keeps hazardous trucking out of the Africatown community and improves infrastructure for our area's future growth.
Leaders of the Eastern Shore and Mobile Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) have asked Governor Kay Ivey to direct the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) to work with their organizations and identify a new project that will:
ALDOT has reviewed a number of locally-developed concepts and is considering a phased construction project that will achieve all three goals.
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As a major transportation hub for the nation, Alabama’s Interstate 10 corridor has a large number of cargo trucks that travel through the area, including traffic to and from the State Port Authority, Airbus, Austal and other local employers. These large trucks have a difficult time going through the tunnels, contribute significantly to the slowdown of traffic, and cause increased potential for accidents and other public safety issues.
Phase one of the new project will construct a dedicated four-lane bridge over the Mobile River for large trucks only. All trucks over 46 feet – class 4, 5 and 6 – would be required to use this new bridge. This will eliminate all large truck traffic from the existing passageways resulting in smoother traffic flow and fewer accidents through the Wallace Tunnel. All current routes would continue to be toll-free.
In addition to the new bridge, the existing Bayway will be restriped and converted from two to three lanes in each direction. This will increase traffic flow by an estimated 40% and increase highway safety for cars and trucks. Finally, to help with public safety, the signed hazardous truck route will no longer pass through the Africatown community.
Phase one will be financed by state funding, the $125 million federal grant, and a fee on large trucks that use the dedicated bridge. The truck fee will be less than half of the charge considered in previous plans. This concept will help truckers deliver products in a much more predictable and safe manner, saving them time, which is money in trucking.
Under this phased approach, a second bridge and new Bayway would be constructed in the future. Design and financing of those plans will be developed at that time and cannot be approved without support from both the Eastern Shore and Mobile MPO’s.
Local transportation leader Jimmy Shumock will coordinate efforts between the state and both MPO’s to begin the process that will involve further plan development and public input.
The Mobile River Truck Bridge is the first phase of an infrastructure improvement plan that will reduce traffic congestion, improve roadway safety and leave existing routes across the Mobile Bay toll-free.
Phase one of this project will construct a dedicated four-lane bridge over the Mobile River for large trucks only. All trucks over 46 feet – class 4, 5 and 6 – would be required to use this new bridge. This will eliminate all large truck traffic from the existing passageways resulting in smoother traffic flow and fewer accidents through the Wallace Tunnel. All current routes would remain toll-free.
Projections show that construction of the Truck Bridge will decrease average passenger car delays by approximately 60 to 90 minutes per week during peak times.
In addition to the new bridge, the existing Bayway will be restriped and converted from two to three lanes in each direction. This will increase traffic flow by an estimated 40% and increase highway safety.
Finally, as part of this project, the signed hazardous truck route will no longer pass through the Africatown community.
The Mobile River Truck Bridge project is not a public-private partnership.
The preliminary estimated cost of phase one the Truck Bridge project is $725 million.
Phase one will be financed by state funding, a $125 million federal grant, and a fee on large trucks over 46 feet in length that will use the dedicated Truck Bridge. The truck fee will be less than half of the charge considered in previous plans. This project will help truckers deliver products in a much more predictable and safe manner, saving them time, which is money in trucking.
There will be no tolls imposed on cars or vehicles less than 46 feet in length. In addition, existing routes across the Bay will remain toll-free.
The project must first be added to the Transportation Improvements Plans of the Mobile Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) and the Eastern Shore MPO. After that, construction could begin during 2022-2023 and be completed in 2026.
The Mobile and Eastern Shore MPOs will have to approve each phase. If both MPOs do not support it, then that phase of the project won’t happen. In 2019 when the Mobile River Bridge and Bayway project included a toll on everyone, it was not approved and did not move forward as a toll-funded project.