Local officials on the Eastern Shore are weighing whether to fold their regional transportation planning organization into a Mobile-based commission, a move that could reshape how road and infrastructure projects are funded and prioritized across Daphne, Spanish Fort, Fairhope, Loxley and parts of unincorporated Baldwin County.
A proposal under discussion would shift oversight of the Eastern Shore Metropolitan Planning Organization to the South Alabama Regional Planning Commission, moving it away from direct funding through the Baldwin County Commission’s budget. The idea was expected to come up at a policy board meeting held at Daphne City Hall, as the group’s annual funding contract with the county approaches its expiration.
The conversation carries an undercurrent of local politics. The MPO’s current coordinator led an organization opposing a school property tax increase during a contentious campaign that concluded when Baldwin County voters rejected both a proposed 8-mill increase and the renewal of an existing 4-mill tax in a late March referendum, a result expected to cost the county school system millions of dollars in funding in the coming years. Several members of the MPO’s policy board, made up of elected mayors and county commissioners, had publicly supported the tax increase.
The coordinator declined to discuss any connection between the tax campaign and the proposed restructuring. One Eastern Shore mayor who sits on the policy board defended the coordinator’s work, saying politics should have no bearing on decisions about the organization’s future.
The head of the regional planning commission said his organization has both the capacity and interest to take on oversight of the Eastern Shore group, arguing it would give the area better access to existing relationships with state and federal transportation officials. He noted the commission already oversees a similar planning organization on the Mobile side of the bay.
Funding has emerged as a central concern driving the discussion. The Eastern Shore MPO currently receives roughly $1.2 million annually for transportation projects, along with a smaller annual allocation from Baldwin County. Its coordinator said state officials have signaled reduced matching funds may be available for larger projects, potentially forcing the group to redirect money toward smaller efforts such as road resurfacing rather than long-planned upgrades, including a proposed synchronized traffic signal system for some of the Eastern Shore’s busiest corridors.
Not everyone is convinced a merger would improve outcomes. One Baldwin County commissioner who sits on the board questioned the value of maintaining a large multi-jurisdictional group if state matching funds remain limited, saying he would support continuing the current structure only if meaningful project support materializes. The policy board is expected to continue weighing its options in the coming weeks as officials sort out funding uncertainty and the organization’s long-term structure.