The Alabama Department of Transportation is meeting with members of the Metropolitan Planning Organizations on both sides of Mobile Bay to provide an update on the proposed Mobile River Bridge project.
The meeting is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the 5 Rivers Delta Resource Center in Spanish Fort. ALDOT will brief members of both the Mobile Metropolitan Planning Organization and the Eastern Shore Metropolitan Planning Organization on the current status of the bridge project.
Metropolitan Planning Organizations, or MPOs, have played an increasingly prominent role in the bridge saga. It was the Eastern Shore MPO that helped defeat ALDOT’s proposed toll over the Mobile River two years ago, when public opposition to tolling forced the project to be shelved.
Earlier this year, local leaders unveiled a new proposal that would create a truck-only toll over the Mobile River to help reduce traffic congestion. No formal action is expected at the meeting, but traffic congestion between Mobile and Baldwin counties remains a pressing concern, particularly during summer weekends when I-10 gridlock is at its worst.
The Mobile River Bridge project has been discussed for decades as a way to relieve the chronic bottleneck on I-10 through the Mobile tunnel corridor. The project’s future design, financing, and tolling structure continue to be key points of debate among state and local officials.