The completion of a new north-south corridor in Baldwin County was expected to give a lift to the county’s biggest economic engine — tourism — Gov. Robert Bentley said during a ribbon-cutting in August 2014.
Speaking at a ceremony marking the opening of the highway’s connection to Interstate 10, Bentley said the Baldwin Beach Express would make it easier for visitors to reach the beaches of south Baldwin County. “Economically, this is very important for this county,” the governor said.
A new route to the coast
The 12.8-mile Baldwin Beach Express runs from Interstate 10 to the Foley Beach Express. The four-lane highway was built to relieve traffic on Alabama 59, provide a quicker path to and from the beaches, and serve as a hurricane evacuation route.
Motorists had already been using stretches of the highway as construction phases were completed, but the interchange at I-10 was the final piece of the $86.7 million project. Its opening came roughly two weeks before Labor Day, the unofficial end of the busy beach season, with the governor joined by a host of local and state officials.
Tourism dollars at stake
The stakes for Baldwin County were considerable. Of the $11 billion spent by visitors in Alabama in 2013, $3.2 billion was spent in Baldwin County, according to Alabama Tourism Department figures.
“It just makes us more efficient in getting people in here to spend their money,” Baldwin County Commissioner Chris Elliott said. “These type of projects, these type of investments in our revenue-generating parts of this state means a bigger pie for the whole state.”
Bentley framed the highway as part of a longer strategy to improve infrastructure in south Baldwin County. He noted that in 2013 he had signed a bill clearing the way for a lodge and conference center at Gulf State Park, a facility expected to draw still more visitors to the coast. “We can’t bring all the people down there unless we can move them around and get them out,” the governor said. “This is just a part of what we’ve got to do.”
Relief for locals and visitors alike
Gulf Shores Mayor Robert Craft said residents of south Baldwin County welcomed the highway because it gave them the option of avoiding Alabama 59, one of the county’s most heavily traveled roads. During summer and spring weekends, that route fills with beachgoers.
“It’s going to mean that our visitors are going to get there without being so frustrated, and our locals are not going to be frustrated with visitors,” Craft said. “It gives us an opportunity to have two ways in and out.”
For longtime beachgoers, the improvement was easy to appreciate. Mary Lee Swindle, 73, of Foley, recalled how difficult the drive had been when she lived in Tuscaloosa and traveled to the coast to vacation. “I loved the beach, but I hated to try to get to it,” she said. “From I-65 down there would take you two hours, if you were lucky.”
An eye on the next phase
Even as the interchange opened, officials looked ahead. Baldwin County’s goal was to extend the highway from I-10 all the way to Interstate 65, though the county did not yet have the money to build it.
Baldwin County Commission Chairman Skip Gruber said he was optimistic the funding would eventually be found. “I will tell you that the other part from here to I-65 will happen, too,” he said. “I can’t tell you the exact date, but it will happen.”
For a county that measured its prosperity in beach traffic and tourism dollars, the message from the ribbon-cutting was clear: the Baldwin Beach Express was meant not only to ease a summer headache, but to keep visitors and their spending flowing into south Baldwin County for years to come.