Thanksgiving took me to Pensacola and Mobile for the holiday weekend, and I have a few road notes to share from the way up and travels in the area.
Legitimate Interstate 10 Florida shields found in Freeport at the overlap of U.S. 331 and Florida 20.
In all of our years of travel in and around Interstate 10 in Florida, we’ve never discovered any signs with the state name, until now.
New sign bridges went up in September of 2006 along Florida 291 (Davis Highway) southbound at University Mall.
The same contractor working on both the Interstate 10/110 project and the new Escambia Bay Bridges also is involved with the expansion of Davis Highway within the vicinity of Interstate 10. Sign bridges went up in 2002 north of Interstate 10 along Davis, and now new signs are in place south of the freeway.
Approaching Interstate 10 on Florida 291 (Davis Highway) northbound. The signs guide motorists to the five-ramp partial-cloverleaf interchange (Exit 13) with Interstate 10.
The interchange is involved in the I-10/110 project, mainly with the addition of c/d roadways to serve movements to/from I-10 to both Davis and I-110. The loop ramps and such shift slightly to tie into the new c/d roadways.
The future eastbound bridge associated with the Escambia Bay Bridge project is nearing completion! Crews celebrated as we watched from the Dairy Queen above, perhaps for the final batch of concrete being poured for the future eastbound lanes. An early 2007 completion is expected for the first of two bridges. The anticipation grows to remove what has been an awful bottleneck along Interstate 10 since the surge of Hurricane Ivan devastated the bay crossing. When the new bridge is open, four lanes of traffic will use the future eastbound span as crews shift to completing the westbound bridge. Test piles and some of the initial decking at the east end of the future westbound bridge are already in place.
Progress being made at the Interstate 10/110 interchange as seen from westbound.
Steelwork is now in place along the entire westbound to southbound flyover ramp. There appears to be a lot more work to be done otherwise, though new sign bridges are up on all three approaches.
The only original Interstate 10 button copy guide sign for the freeway still in place lies at the westbound on-ramp ahead of the Exit 27 interchange.
There are a couple of button copy mileage signs on the mainline, but this gem is the only retaining an original button copy shield and overall assembly.
I noted on Froggie’s website the installation of an end shield for U.S. 43 since my last visit of the area, so I decided to head up that way for a photo of my own. U.S. 43 was truncated from its near downtown end in Mobile to the junction with Bay Bridge Road after the Telegraph Road viaduct near the GM&O Building closed and was removed in 2002.
An end sign was not installed until mid-2006.
Old Shell Road east at University Boulevard in Mobile.
For those familiar with Mobile roads, the stretch of Old Shell Road at the University of South Alabama has remained two-lanes for years. In 2003, crews began four-laning the roadway from Hillcrest Road east to University Boulevard. The intersection between University and Old Shell Road also involved rebuilding of the storm water system to address issues with an underground stream at the site. It used to be that during heavy thunderstorms, the intersection would flood and become impassable. The widened Old Shell Road meets University Boulevard with improved storm water drainage infrastructure. Future four-laning of Old Shell Road is planned from Hillcrest Road west to Schillinger Road (Mobile County 31).
