State transportation officials are defending how they have pursued federal money for the Interstate 10 Mobile River Bridge and Bayway project, after U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne publicly criticized the agency’s funding strategy for the roughly $2 billion span.
In a written statement, Alabama Department of Transportation spokeswoman Allison Gregg said the agency regrets any confusion over its position and insisted ALDOT remains willing to accept federal dollars from any source, including federal funding, to help pay for the bridge and its approaches.
Byrne had criticized ALDOT in recent media appearances for declining to tap a cost-sharing program that channels a share of federal oil and gas revenue back to Gulf Coast states. That program, the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act, was established in 2006 and has funneled money to Alabama and other Gulf states with offshore energy production. Byrne’s office did not respond to a request for comment on the dispute.
In a follow-up interview, Gregg said ALDOT has instead focused on other federal funding streams it considers a better fit for offsetting what she called a “huge chunk of change.” Chief among them is the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America program, known as INFRA, a U.S. Department of Transportation discretionary grant program that awards roughly $250 million nationally each cycle.
ALDOT applied for INFRA funding in 2018 but was not selected. Gregg said the agency has reapplied this year and is optimistic about its chances, though there is no firm timetable for when winners will be announced. She said the federal government is expected to reveal grant recipients by the end of the summer.
Byrne has not been the only elected official pressing ALDOT and the state on how the bridge project is funded and how it will affect nearby communities. Mobile City Councilman Levon Manzie sent a letter to Gov. Kay Ivey asking her to consider additional funding for neighborhoods most affected by construction, including the historic Africatown/Plateau area and the Down the Bay community.
In the letter, Manzie floated the idea of a community benefits agreement that would compensate residents of what he described as “incredibly historic and vulnerable” neighborhoods near the bridge corridor. He said the concept drew a positive response when he raised it at a recent community meeting on the project, and that he believes it could help offset the disruption both areas are expected to face.
In a phone interview, Manzie said the two neighborhoods would be affected differently. Down the Bay sits closer to the construction footprint and would bear the brunt of building activity, he said, while Plateau is more likely to see an increase in cut-through traffic from drivers trying to avoid new tolls on the bridge. Both outcomes, he said, could diminish quality of life for longtime residents, and he wants ALDOT and the state to treat the two communities “equally and with respect” as planning moves forward.
Tolls have been a persistent point of contention around the project, with proposed one-way charges in the $3 to $6 range. Gregg noted that motorists looking to avoid paying a toll will still have free options. The Bankhead Tunnel will not be tolled, she said, and drivers can also use the Causeway to reach the tunnel or cross the river via the Cochrane-Africatown Bridge, the same span used today.
The bridge and Bayway project has been one of the most closely watched infrastructure fights in south Alabama in recent years, with local leaders, business groups and residents all weighing in on financing, tolling and the project’s footprint through Mobile’s waterfront neighborhoods. ALDOT’s public comments come as the agency continues to assemble a funding package for a project whose price tag has made it one of the largest single infrastructure undertakings in state history.