Mobile Bay Ferry Dock on Dauphin Island Set for Upgrade
ALDOT is building a wider dock, new fencing and a covered shelter for the Mobile Bay Ferry landing on the Dauphin Island side of the bay this fall.
The Mobile Bay Ferry is getting an upgraded home on the Dauphin Island side, as the Alabama Department of Transportation prepares to begin construction on a new boarding dock and surrounding amenities.
Work is set to begin in the coming days on a wider dock, new fencing and a covered shelter with benches for waiting passengers. The new structure is being built just west of the ferry’s current dock, next to the existing snack bar and restroom facility on the island side of Mobile Bay. ALDOT says the construction is designed to have only a minimal effect on the ferry’s regular schedule, so riders should not expect major disruptions while crews work.
The project is being funded in part through a grant from the Ferry Boat Discretionary Fund, a federal program administered by the Federal Highway Administration that helps support ferry infrastructure around the country. The Mobile Bay Ferry, which links Dauphin Island to the Fort Morgan peninsula in Baldwin County, is a popular route for both tourists and commuters looking to avoid the drive around the bay. Last year alone, the ferry carried close to 194,000 passengers across the bay, underscoring how heavily used the crossing has become.
The construction contract for the new dock was awarded to Gillis Construction, Inc., a Bay Minette-based firm whose bid of $456,638.45 came in as the lowest submission that met the project’s requirements. Crews expect to have the new dock open in time for next summer’s travel season, a timeline officials hope will limit disruption to one of the region’s busiest seasonal crossings. The daily numbers help explain why: during the peak summer months, the ferry typically carries somewhere between 1,200 and 1,300 passengers a day, well above its average pace the rest of the year.
About the crossing
The ferry crosses the mouth of Mobile Bay between Dauphin Island and the Fort Morgan peninsula, landing near Fort Gaines on the island side and Fort Morgan on the Baldwin County side. The two forts guarded the entrance to the bay during the Battle of Mobile Bay in August 1864.
