Public input on the long-discussed Interstate 10 Mobile River Bridge project has come in heavy, with more than 640 people speaking at hearings or submitting written comments during a 45-day review window that closed in early November.
The comment period accompanied release of a federal environmental impact study on the roughly $850 million project and included two public meetings, one at the Alabama Cruise Terminal and another at the Five Rivers Delta Resource Center. Alabama Department of Transportation officials collected the feedback as part of the ongoing federal review process required before construction can move forward on the new Mobile River crossing.
Of the 641 individual comments logged, an overwhelming 554 expressed support for the state’s preferred route, known as Alternative B-Prime. Only four comments backed a different alignment, and just 40 people, roughly 6 percent of all respondents, opposed the bridge project outright.
A separate petition effort added even more voices to the record. A total of 4,200 signatures were gathered on a petition asking that the completed bridge be named in honor of a local serviceman, Corporal Christopher Edward Mason, an effort organized by his father. Transportation officials have indicated the bridge would carry that name if the petition request is honored.
Bicycle and pedestrian access to the bridge emerged as one of the more contested elements of the design. A petition circulated by a local bicycle and pedestrian advocacy group gathered 3,213 signatures in favor of including a dedicated bike-pedestrian lane on the span, adding to 111 additional individual comments on the same topic, 72 of which supported the addition. Twenty-nine commenters spoke against including the path. State transportation officials have previously raised concerns about the cost and design challenges of adding such a lane to the bridge.
Among those who commented specifically on potential bicycle-pedestrian use, 253 said they personally would not use such a path if it were built, while smaller numbers indicated they would use it occasionally, weekly or daily. A related question about the existing I-10 Wallace Tunnel found that 232 respondents cross it weekly, 108 daily and 133 only occasionally, with just four saying they never use the tunnel.
The bridge and approach project has been years in the making, aimed at easing chronic congestion at the Wallace Tunnel and providing an alternative Mobile River crossing for the growing volume of interstate and local traffic passing through downtown Mobile. With the comment period closed, the results now feed into the state’s ongoing environmental review process, one of the final major steps before the project can move toward design and construction phases.
For a region that has debated a new Mobile River crossing for years, the strong turnout and lopsided support for the preferred route suggest broad public appetite for the project to move forward, even as questions about bike-pedestrian access and the ultimate price tag remain unresolved.