Utility crews spent a busy weekend pushing forward on a pipe replacement project in downtown Mobile, part of an infrastructure upgrade that has reshaped traffic and parking around the historic core of the city. A temporary bypass pipe has now been assembled and installed running from the Camper City area at Canal Street to Fort Conde on Church Street, and crews expected to extend that bypass line into the block of St. Emanuel Street within days.
Drivers parking downtown were urged to watch for hooded meters in the area surrounding the bypass work, a temporary measure while crews complete the installation. Traffic signs were also being posted near the active work zones to guide motorists around the project, which was on pace to wrap up by Thanksgiving.
The downtown pipe work was just one piece of a much larger list of road and infrastructure projects underway across Mobile and Baldwin counties last fall. In midtown Mobile, the long-closed intersection of Three Notch Road at Dawes Lane and the Dawes Lane extension remained shut down, though the contractor expected to reopen it by the first week of November. Nearby, Satchel Paige Drive between Government Street and Bolling Brothers Boulevard was closed entirely while crews widened it to a four-lane divided roadway, work tied to construction at the McGowin Park shopping center and expected to last about three months.
Closer to the airport, inside lanes of Airport Boulevard at Alverson Road were closing for three-week stretches between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. on weekdays for drainage and road improvements, with that stage of the work expected to finish within the week.
State highway crews also had several Mobile County projects in progress. On Interstate 10, repairs continued on the ramp leading to the Battleship Parkway that was damaged in a fiery wreck back in July, with the Alabama Department of Transportation saying the ramp could reopen within two weeks. Elsewhere on I-10, resurfacing and bridge work stretching from Halls Mill Creek to the west end of the George C. Wallace Tunnel had crews working eastbound inside lanes and retrofitting guardrail near the DIP ramps, with nighttime closures expected through the following summer. On U.S. 90 between Halls Mill and Pine Hill Drive, ongoing drainage work was producing night lane closures and occasional detours. The Alabama welcome center at the Mississippi state line remained closed for a rebuild expected to last until at least spring 2016.
In Baldwin County, the connector linking County Road 68 to the Baldwin Beach Express was reported to be more than 90 percent finished, with only occasional lane closures expected on County Road 83 as crews wrapped up remaining work. At the Little Lagoon Pass bridge, reconstruction was roughly halfway complete, with a temporary detour bridge in place alongside the project expected to remain through the end of 2014.
Motorists across both counties were advised to plan extra time and watch for shifting signage as the projects continued into the holiday season.