One of Mobile’s most unusual recreational rituals returns this weekend: the Bankhead Tunnel opens to bicycles and foot traffic on Saturday morning, giving walkers and riders a rare chance to travel beneath the Mobile River without a car.
The tunnel welcomes non-motorized visitors from 6 to 8 a.m. today, and the arrangement repeats every other Saturday morning for the next several weeks. The seasonal openings have become an annual tradition in recent years.
ALDOT, which manages the crossing, notes that times and days are subject to change as the department evaluates public interest and traffic impacts. Message boards and additional traffic control devices will be used for safety and information, and cyclists and pedestrians are encouraged to keep speeds reasonable and use extra caution traveling through the tunnel.
Built in the early 1940s, the Art Deco-era Bankhead Tunnel normally carries Government Street traffic westbound under the Mobile River. The periodic walk-and-bike mornings let residents experience the landmark’s tiled walls and gentle dip below sea level at a human pace.