A newly proposed Mobile River bridge and expressway plan would nearly cut in half the $2 billion cost of the state-backed proposal killed last year, its backers say.
The alternative was put forward by Dr. Lou Campomenosi of the Common Sense Campaign and Eastern Shore businessman Kevin Spriggs. Last week, the Eastern Shore Metropolitan Planning Organization endorsed the plan, while Mobile’s MPO took no action. Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson, who leads the city MPO, said his group would not act “until ALDOT says this is something we can embrace.”
The focus now is on getting state leaders to take a look. “It’s in their interest to try to find a solution,” Campomenosi said, noting other Montgomery officials have worked with the group on funding a non-toll plan.
The proposal, called the Coastal Alabama Consensus Plan, calls for a bridge over the Mobile River and an expressway to the Eastern Shore alongside the existing Bayway. Existing routes would carry no tolls, and Exit 35 at Daphne and the Eastern Shore would remain.
“Exit 35 is the key to what’s going on with the eastern shore,” Campomenosi said. To move forward, backers say the plan needs support beyond Eastern Shore leaders before Gov. Kay Ivey and ALDOT Director John Cooper re-engage.