The Alabama Department of Transportation has received statements of qualifications from four teams of firms interested in designing, building and financing a new bridge across the Mobile River, a milestone in a project that has been discussed for more than a decade.
The four submissions signal that the long-planned Mobile River Bridge and Bayway project, which would replace the aging Bankhead Tunnel corridor’s traffic bottleneck along Interstate 10, has drawn serious national and international interest from firms capable of financing major infrastructure work.
Mike Lee, chairman of the Build the I-10 Bridge Coalition, said the response from ALDOT means the project remains on a timeline that could see construction begin as early as 2019.
“It’s what we’ve been working toward,” Lee said. “There’s a timetable now.”
ALDOT Mobile Division spokeswoman Allison Gregg confirmed the agency is moving along a similar schedule, though she cautioned it is still too early to say exactly what construction might look like by 2019.
Gregg said the strength of the response was not something ALDOT could take for granted when the project was first announced, given how few firms in the country are equipped to take on a project of this scale.
“In the big picture for these projects … so few firms can come together and deliver it,” Gregg said. “To have four different groups of firms come forward is really exciting.”
Each of the four groups has also been asked to propose financing options for the bridge, addressing a funding gap that has long complicated the project. One option under serious consideration is charging tolls to drivers who use the new span.
“We’re looking at tolls,” Gregg said. “We’re studying it right now to determine how much a toll would be.”
Gregg said tolls would shift more of the cost onto drivers using the bridge, including tourists passing through the area. ALDOT plans to keep the Bankhead Tunnel open as a free alternative route, she said, while the Wallace Tunnel would carry a toll.
Structuring the project as ALDOT’s first public-private partnership could also open the door to federal funding that would ease the financial burden on both the private developers and future travelers, according to Lee.
Lee said that during a meeting in Washington, D.C. last year, the coalition and other project backers were told to return with a concrete plan, after which the Federal Highway Administration might be able to help identify funding. He said the coalition and ALDOT now have that plan in hand.
“This public-private partnership gives us a way to get federal help,” Lee said.
Grant funding remains a possibility as well. Gregg said ALDOT recently applied for a grant through the U.S. Department of Transportation to help cover project costs.
According to ALDOT, the proposed project includes three major components: a new, aesthetically designed cable-stayed bridge spanning the Mobile River, replacement of the existing Bayway, and modifications to five interchanges along the corridor.
The Mobile River Bridge itself would be a six-lane structure with a minimum vertical clearance of 215 feet over the river, a height intended to protect the viability of the Port of Mobile’s maritime traffic. The rebuilt Bayway would carry eight lanes of travel across 7.5 miles and would be elevated above the 100-year storm surge level. The interchange work is meant to ensure safe, efficient access between the interstate and the surrounding local road network.
ALDOT will now review the qualification submissions to determine which of the four teams advance to the Request for Proposal stage. Gregg said the agency expects to release both a short list of selected proposers and a draft RFP in early 2018.
The formal RFPs are expected to go out by Jan. 1, giving the qualifying teams most of 2018 to prepare detailed responses. If that timeline holds, construction could begin as early as the first quarter of 2019, Lee said, kicking off what is expected to be roughly a four-year construction window.