MOBILE, Ala. — The Mobile Metropolitan Planning Organization is set to meet this week to consider a resolution updating the funding plan for the I-10 Mobile River Bridge and Bayway project, one of the largest infrastructure undertakings in South Alabama history.
The meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 5, at 10 a.m. Among other business, the board will discuss amending the Fiscal Year 2024-2027 Transportation Improvement Program to formally add the bridge project and related Bayway work to the region’s official funding roadmap.
Updated Cost Estimates
According to the resolution under consideration, the first phase of the I-10 Mobile River Bridge — spanning from Broad Street (Exit 24) to the existing Bayway — carries a current estimated cost of $2,665,755,926, up from an earlier engineer’s estimate of $1,691,540,000.
The Bayway portion of the project, which runs from west of the Mobile County line to east of the Eastern Shore interchange at Exit 35 (SR-42/US-98) and includes restriping of the existing Bayway bridges from the Tensaw River to the eastern end of the Bayway, carries a first-phase cost estimate of $888,022,854.
Part of a Long-Running Regional Priority
The Mobile River Bridge and Bayway project has been a recurring topic before regional planning bodies for years as officials work to relieve one of the most congested stretches of interstate in the state and replace aging infrastructure across Mobile Bay. The Mobile MPO, which coordinates transportation planning and federal funding decisions for the Mobile urbanized area, must formally incorporate major projects like the bridge into its Transportation Improvement Program before certain funding mechanisms can move forward.
Wednesday’s vote would not authorize construction itself, but it is a required administrative step that keeps the bridge and Bayway project aligned with the region’s official transportation funding plan as costs and engineering estimates continue to evolve.