The Alabama Department of Transportation says approximately $40 million in funding is still needed to complete a critical safety improvement project along US-98 after four people were killed in three separate crashes on Moffett Road within a single week.
In a statement, ALDOT extended sympathies to the families of the victims and emphasized that highway safety remains the department’s highest priority. The agency confirmed that while significant progress has been made on the Safe 98/SR-158 extension project, the remaining two-lane connection from the Mississippi state line to Schillinger Road requires substantial additional funding.
A Week of Fatal Crashes
The urgency of the project was underscored by a series of fatal collisions on the corridor. On April 19, a woman was killed when her vehicle struck a tree near Helen Street. Just five days earlier on April 14, a woman and her one-year-old son died when a UPS truck crossed into their lane near Wolf Ridge Road. On April 15, a man lost his life after his car collided with an SUV near Big Creek Lake on Highway 98.
ALDOT stated it is committed to exploring all options to secure the funding needed to complete the much-needed safety project, which aims to improve one of Mobile County’s most dangerous corridors.