Gulf Shores Pedestrian Bridge Plazas Need $1.2 Million More; Council to Weigh Change Order

GULF SHORES, Ala. — The plazas planned around the Gulf Shores pedestrian bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway will cost about $1.2 million more than the grant set aside for them, and the City Council is set to discuss a change order to cover the gap at a work session Monday, Oct. 19.

The bridge is under construction at the intersection of Canal Road and East Second Street. In January, the city accepted a $3.6 million GoMESA grant for the plaza work, but current estimates put that part of the project at about $4.8 million. The project’s main contractor, Harrison Construction, is seeking a change order for the additional $1.2 million to finish the job.

“The current construction cost estimate for the plazas project is $4.8M,” Capital Projects Manager Gabriel Willis wrote in a memo to the council.

When the council will take it up

• Work session: Monday, Oct. 19, at 4 p.m., when the council will discuss the change order and the extra spending
• Likely vote: The council’s regular meeting Monday, Oct. 26

Gulf Shores typically reviews items at a work session one week and votes on them at a regular meeting the following week, giving council members and residents time to ask questions before a final decision.

Where the extra money would come from

City officials say the additional $1.2 million would come from two sources: parks and recreation impact fees, and $80,000 left over from money the city borrowed to build the bridge itself.

Impact fees are one-time charges that cities collect on new development to help pay for the added demand that growth places on public facilities. Money collected for parks and recreation is generally restricted to building or expanding recreational facilities, which is why the plaza project, designed to create new public gathering space, is a fit for those funds.

Under an agreement among the city, WAS Design and Harrison Construction, the change order would also separate the plaza work from the main construction contract for the bridge. Keeping the two pieces apart can make it easier to track the grant-funded and locally funded portions of the project and the money spent on each.

In addition, the city is proposing to pay Harrison Construction $220,000 more for construction management services tied to the plaza work covered by the change order.

What the plaza work includes

According to Willis’ memo, the change order “covers the first phase of the pedestrian bridge plaza site work and includes improvements intended to convert the undeveloped areas surrounding the bridge into functional public spaces.”

The work would include:

• Seat walls
• Sidewalks
• Retaining walls
• Plaza steps
• Concrete paving
• Grading
• Storm drainage
• Reinforced concrete footings

Some drainage built during bridge construction would also need to be reworked. “The work also includes modifications to existing drainage structures installed as part of the bridge project to accommodate the revised drainage layout and finished site grades associated with the plaza improvements,” Willis’ memo states.

Why the city is building the bridge

The pedestrian bridge has been years in the making. As South AL News has reported, Gulf Shores won a $14.4 million federal BUILD grant in 2019 for a pedestrian bridge and plaza at East Second Street and State Route 180, the state highway known as Canal Road. City officials have said they hope to open the bridge this spring.

The project became necessary because of the widening of the W.C. Holmes Bridge, which carries Alabama 59 over the Intracoastal Waterway. Adding a third southbound lane to that bridge is taking away its walking and bicycle lane, leaving pedestrians and cyclists without a dedicated way across the canal. The new bridge will give them a separate crossing.

Building the bridge and its plazas also required the city and the Alabama Department of Transportation to close the sharp 90-degree turn that connected Canal Road East and East Second Street near Tacky Jacks. That change is part of a larger plan to eventually reroute Canal Road traffic away from the Gulf Pines neighborhood. Earlier this month, the council approved a survey of right-of-way for that reroute, and city staff outlined an interim bypass the city hopes to build first. South AL News covered those plans in a report on the Canal Road reroute.

Change orders and rising costs

A change order is a formal amendment to a construction contract that adjusts the scope of work, the price or the schedule. Change orders are common on large public projects, especially those designed years before construction begins, as material and labor costs shift and site conditions become clearer.

For grant-funded projects, cost increases often fall to the local government, because grant awards are usually fixed at the amount approved when the application was made. In this case, the $3.6 million GoMESA award covered most of the plaza estimate, leaving the city to decide whether to pay the remaining $1.2 million from its own funds to finish the public spaces around the bridge.

GoMESA, the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act, shares a portion of federal revenue from offshore oil and gas leases with Gulf producing states, including Alabama. In coastal Alabama, the money has paid for a range of conservation, restoration and public access projects in recent years.

Other items on the work session agenda

The council will also discuss several other matters on Oct. 19:

• Library Advisory Board: Reappointing Morgan Szapiel and Sherry Hoffman to terms running through Nov. 1, 2030, and Councilman Jason Dyken to a term ending Nov. 9, 2030. The council will also consider appointing Sara Altmyer to fill the remainder of Asha Colvin’s term, which ends Oct. 31, 2027.
• Employee handbook: An amendment addressing “tobacco, smoking and electronic nicotine delivery systems” that would limit their use by city employees to areas designated by the city.

What comes next

The Oct. 19 work session is open to the public and begins at 4 p.m. If the council moves the change order forward, a vote is expected at the Oct. 26 regular meeting. Approval would allow Harrison Construction to proceed with the first phase of plaza site work, turning the undeveloped land around the bridge into finished public space with walkways, seating and steps leading to the new crossing over the waterway.