Mobile-Baldwin

[Alex]

There already is a four-lane route linking the two, and there is limited potential for new economic development, when many businesses along the old route are shuttered. Why not instead make a high-speed freeway? Oh yeah, I must remember the era for those is now over...

Sounds like it could be a toll road. If it's a toll road, at least maybe it would be built as limited-access. I hope it is built as limited-access. Another five-lane boulevard isn't needed.

Being dubbed the Foley Beach Express II, I envision MOTS, a four-lane divided highway with at-grade intersections and a lack of strict enough rules dealing with the limitation of driveways. The state highway concept was to use the CR-87 corridor heading north, then a path close to CR-61 from CR-112 to US 31 and I-65.

I would not put it past the county to advocate it as a public-private partnership in a tolled arterial concept either...

[Alex]

Mobile hopes to save money with LED traffic signals

MOBILE, Ala. -- Mobile is overhauling its traffic signals to take advantage of the latest in lighting technology, a move officials say will save the city money in the long run.

A $760,000 federal stimulus grant focusing on energy savings will pay for the project.

The new lights, which are made of Light Emitting Diodes, LEDs, will last longer than their incandescent predecessors and use a fraction of the energy. Bill Metzger, the city's traffic engineer, estimates that the LEDs will save about $82,000 in energy costs each year.

The LEDs have a working life of 10-12 years, about four times that of an incandescent bulb.

"We were spending a lot of time just going out to replace those old lights," Metzger said.

The savings on time and bulbs will net the city an additional $37,000 annually, he said.

He said that by the end of the year, lights at 266 of the city's 320 signalized intersections will have been replaced.

The city will retain the incandescent traffic lights in and around the downtown area because they are new, Metzger said. But when those lights fail, they will be replaced with LEDs, he said.

In addition to the traffic signals, the city is also using the stimulus money to replace all of its 500 pedestrian signals, which are antiquated according to the latest standards.

Most of the older signals operate on the following three-stage process:

   * A white walking figure shows for a few seconds to signal the pedestrian to begin walking.
   * An orange hand begins flashing to signal the pedestrian to clear through the intersection.
   * The hand goes solid, signaling that it is no longer safe to be in the intersection.

The new lights will use the same three stages with one new feature: Next to the flashing hand, a countdown will show how long the pedestrian has to cross safely.

[Alex]

Forum planned on proposed corridor linking I-10 and I-65 with south Baldwin County

March 29, 2010, 9:07AM

BALDWIN REPORT.jpgROBERTSDALE, Ala. -- Now that a proposed hurricane evacuation highway linking interstates 10 and 65 seems likely to follow the route preferred by Baldwin County officials, a group of county business leaders wants to know why the route is favored.

Leadership Baldwin County, a program that unites people from throughout the county and encourages civic involvement, will hold a forum about the highway at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Robertsdale City Hall.

"Businesses and individuals will be affected by the placement of this road," said Scott Shamburger, a Baldwin County builder who serves on the infrastructure group of Leadership Baldwin County's class of 2010.

The state planned a different route for the corridor that would lie close to the Florida line, but transportation officials said last week they would hold off on that proposal while the county researches its preferred path for the highway.

"We believe it is important to provide factual information about both proposed routes and provide an appropriate forum for questions," he said.

Among the forum's expected speakers are Robertsdale Mayor Charles Murphy and County Commission Chairman Charles "Skip" Gruber, he said.

"The leadership group wants to know why we chose the route we did and why we think it's the best route," Gruber said. "I look forward to that discussion."

Alabama Department of Transportation officials last week said that, in light of the county's pursuit of its own route, they had halted work on plans for their version of the $150 million, four-lane corridor that would follow a route close to the Florida line.

Late last year, environmental groups as well as county and municipal leaders expressed bewilderment over the state's plans to build a road over the wetlands of the Perdido River basin rather than constructing it on the high ground in the county's middle.

County officials back a route that would roughly parallel Ala. 59. The route would link to the existing Beach Express toll bridge that runs to Orange Beach, making it another highway for tourist traffic, economic development and hurricane evacuation.

County officials have requested $150 million from Congress to fund the project.

Other expected speakers at Tuesday's forum include Baldwin County Emergency Management Agency Director Leigh Anne Ryals, Baldwin County Economic Development Alliance President Robert Ingram and GUMBO political action committee President Anthony Kaiser.

Representatives from the state transportation department and the Baldwin County engineer's office are also expected to attend, organizers said.

County officials voted at a recent meeting to enter the next phase of a traffic study on their route to see if a toll road would be feasible.

"We're working on an environmental study and we've applied for a wetlands permit," said Cal Markert, Baldwin County engineer. "We're doing preliminary work and gathering facts."

Markert said that, even though the county's route would fill 104.9 acres of wetlands, it seems to be far more environmentally friendly than the state's route.

The state route would start at Baldwin County 87 and I-10, then cross 28 creeks along the headwaters of the Perdido River and a new Perdido Wildlife Management Area. The county route would cross just 10 creeks.

The county route would also connect to the industrial mega-site where Hybrid Kinetic Motors Corp. plans to locate, should the company raise its needed $1.5 billion in startup money, Markert said.

[Alex]

Another bland five-lane arterial. Hello new traffic lights!

U.S. 31 widening project to include city improvements in Spanish Fort

SPANISH FORT -- When a state project to widen a portion of U.S. 31 gets under way later this year, sidewalks and closed drainage will be included in the work, thanks to a measure passed this week by the City Council.

The council adopted a resolution in its regular meeting Monday that allows the mayor to enter into an agreement with the Alabama Department of Transportation.

The city will pay the highway department $800,000 for the improvements.

"The city has been setting aside money for this project for a number of years in anticipation of this highway 31 corridor widening project, and this outlines the terms and conditions upon which those additional improvements will be constructed with city money," said City Attorney David Conner.

The transportation department received nearly $15 million in federal funding to widen the highway to five lanes from the intersection of U.S. 90 and U.S. 31 to Ala. 181, according to city officials.

Once completed, the city will be responsible for maintaining those portions that don't fall under the state highway maintenance system, according to the construction agreement.

"It's one of those ready projects that's on the shelf that the federal government wants to move forward on and we're ready for them to move forward on it," Mayor Joe Bonner said.

"I'm just so excited that they're bidding it out, and I hope that it's completed with speed," he said.

The state has already acquired the needed rights of way for the project, which is estimated to cost about $17 million, according to Linda Crockett, a spokeswoman with the state highway department.

Bidding is scheduled to begin July 30. Construction on the 3.4 mile-stretch is expected to start Sept. 30 and is projected to take 18 months, Crockett said.

[Alex]

Go residents! Please defeat this worthless service road. Last thing that corridor needs is another eye-sore commercial strip visible from Interstate 10...

TimberCreek residents protest $9 million 'Road to Nowhere'

BAY MINETTE, Ala. -- Several Daphne area residents want Baldwin County commissioners to drop plans for what some are calling a $9 million "Road to Nowhere" that only benefits a few commercial developers.

Some 700 residents of the TimberCreek subdivision could be negatively impacted, according to protesters, by the planned service road, between U.S. 98 and Ala. 181, that would link the Bass Pro Shops-anchored Spanish Fort Town Center with the proposed Interstate 10 interchange at Baldwin County 13.

Protesters contacted county commissioners regarding the issue in advance of commission's work session Tuesday.

County Administrator Michael Thompson said the group made their case, and commissioners will hear the issue at their regular meeting next week.

County Engineer Cal Markert said officials listened to the group, and commissioners could decide to stop the project, but that is not likely.

"We believe this is the best thing for the county as a whole," Markert said.

Commissioner Ed Bishop said the county engineer is asking for permission to authorize bids, with the decision to let bids coming later. He said businesses could be developed regardless along the existing Woodrow Lane on the route, and the county has already entered agreements with several parties regarding the service road project.

TimberCreek resident and local attorney Tom O'Hara said the estimated $9 million project gained support from residents last year when developers said Mobile Infirmary planned to build a hospital on property along the route. Since then, according to officials, those plans have changed.

"There is a well-oiled political machine behind the project," O'Hara, said. "And with three existing east-west corridors, why do we need it? It will intrude on TimberCreek subdivision, and on environmentally sensitive areas all for the benefit of a few developers."

In 2007, the commission committed $4 million to the project. TimberCreek Land Co. and the development firm Cypress Equities each agreed to contribute $2 million. The city of Daphne agreed to contribute $1 million.

Daphne Council President Gus Palumbo submitted a letter to commissioners protesting the project. In a telephone interview on Tuesday, he said the road "won't do anything for Daphne and the money could be better spent elsewhere. Palumbo said the route would parallel U.S. 31, I-10, and U.S. 90, which are all major east-west roadways in the area.

[jdb1234]

Go residents! Please defeat this worthless service road. Last thing that corridor needs is another eye-sore commercial strip visible from Interstate 10...

Well here is the answer:

http://blog.al.com/live/2010/04/baldwin_county_abandons_8_mill.html

[Alex]

And a follow up to the story on the Baldwin I-10 Service Road post from yesterday:

http://blog.al.com/live/2010/04/i-10_service_road_in_timbercre.html

I am happy to see that the commissioners there actually listened to the residents as opposed to the commercial land developers for once...

[Alex]

Commissioners call for meetings on Interstate 10 service road agreements

BAY MINETTE -- Baldwin County commissioners Tuesday called for meetings with entities involved in agreements left dangling when a vote last week killed a planned $8 million service road near the TimberCreek subdivision.

"In ceasing to work on the service road," said Commissioner Wayne Gruenloh, "I'm concerned about the position we put those entities in."

Gruenloh called for a meeting between highway committee members, the county engineer and representatives from Spanish Fort, Cypress Equities and TimberCreek Land Co.

But Commissioner Frank Burt chided fellow commissioners for killing the project "without considering all those involved just so 150 folks and some lawyers could get their way." Burt's was the lone vote against ending the project.

Today, Burt said he should be the one to meet with the parties involved as finance committee chairman, along with County Attorney Scott Barnett. He said the county engineer couldn't address legal issues in the agreements. He also called for the meetings to be public, and asked repeatedly if his fellow commissioners were "trying to bring the project back to life."

Burt said officials at the Alabama Department of Transportation were "highly upset" about the situation, as were some local officials.

"The commission made a mistake," Burt said, "a grave mistake" in abandoning the project.

Gruenloh and Commissioner Ed Bishop both denied trying to revive the project, though Bishop did say people on the west end of the proposed road might still want the development in their area. Both said they were interested in taking care of the agreements left in place.

Cry me a river, sing me a song...

[Alex]

While poking around Streetview last week, I happened across a set of signals in Prichard I was unaware of. The five-way intersection with old Bay Bridge Road, Grover Avenue, and Willjohn Street lies just north of U.S. 90 & 98 Truck (new Bay Bridge Road) but handles only local traffic and trucks from an adjacent business. I drove through it yesterday and what is left of the traffic lights flash red for Grove Avenue and Willjohn Street and yellow for Bay Bridge Road:

Unbelievably so, these signals were fixed/replaced and reactivated! For a city with no money, I think priority should have been given to their water system situation vs. working on signals for a five-point intersection where one of the roads (Old Bay Bridge Road) dead ends in one direction... 

[jdb1234]

Baldwin County 13 extension to open Wednesday:

http://blog.al.com/live/2010/05/baldwin_county_13_to_open_wedn.html

[Alex]

Long-awaited road opens between Fairhope and Daphne

DAPHNE, Ala. -- Baldwin County commissioners and others spoke Friday to a crowd of more than 30 gathered for the ribbon-cutting of a 3-mile extension of Baldwin County 13.

Construction on the project began 19 months ago. The road fills what had been a gap in Baldwin County 13 between Ala. 104 in Fairhope and Baldwin County 64 in Daphne.

"This is an example of what the commission can do to meet transportation needs and still save the environment," said Commissioner David Ed Bishop. "I'm as happy as anybody can be today. I feel like a bird out of a cage."

The Baldwin County 13 project, just east of Daphne and Fairhope, is designed to take traffic pressure off the county's two other major north-south routes, Ala. 181 and U.S. 98.

The road's construction rolled into controversy in September 2007, when Auburn University -- which owned much of the land and placed strong restrictions on construction there -- nixed the county's plan to fill 3.6 acres of wetlands and pave over it. The property is occupied by Auburn University's Gulf Coast Research Center.

County and university officials developed a new, more ecologically sensitive plan. The project's planned bridge span more than tripled in size -- from 120 feet, then 154, then 540 feet, and finally 720 feet, county officials said.

"We are all happy today," said Auburn attorney Jon G. Waggoner, who attended Friday's event. "This is a model of environmental sustainability, and it also shows the practical side of Auburn."

[Alex]

Delay the thing forever IMO, its a dumb road without controlling access... 

Baldwin Beach Express delayed six years?

BAY MINETTE -- Baldwin County officials were hoping to get the Baldwin Beach Express link to Interstate 10 done this year, but the latest state report shows one segment not set for contract letting until 2016.

"I was notified by the Alabama Department of Transportation on Friday the project had been put off," said Cal Markert, county engineer.

County workers have already completed work on one phase of the highway that will eventually connect I-10 with a toll bridge at Orange Beach. Phase II includes the stretch from U.S. 90 to Baldwin County 64 set for bid letting in June. Phase III runs from Baldwin 32 to U.S. 90 and until late last week, had been set for letting this summer. The final section from Baldwin 64 to I-10 is a state project.

Markert said state highway officials told him the county might be asked for $4 million of county money allocated for the project before letting the contract rather than billing as the project is under way.

Commissioner Frank Burt said the main cause of the delay was $25 million taken from the state highway department by the Legislature and allocated to state courts to process tickets more rapidly.

"The 2016 date is totally unacceptable to me," Gruenloh said.

Burt suggested the date change could be a move in retaliation for the county's vote to end work on a service road along TimberCreek subdivision north of I-10 that would have connected with an interchange the state is building at Baldwin County 13.

"We didn't take the interchange off," Gruenloh said. "They are continuing their project."

In another highway matter, two TimberCreek residents at the work session questioned Markert about permits for the service road issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that remained in place even though the roadwork was canceled.

Markert said state highway officials had requested that the permits stay in place so wetlands mitigation included along the route could be used to offset wetlands impacts at the interchange. He also said he left the permit intact for the entire three miles of service road "so if you all go back and change your mind and go ahead with the project, I wouldn't have to go back with the permit process and start all over."

Officials said the permits had already been paid for, and would be good for 5 years.

As for the state change to the contract date for the express highway, Markert said the date listed "may not mean anything" and could change in next month's state report. He said to be sure, however, commissioners should push for a contract letting in July or August this year.

[Alex]

Deal reached in Highway 98 suit; Settlement includes long list of environmental restrictions

[Alex]

The last button copy sign along Interstate 10 in Alabama bit the dust within the last two weeks. Its replacement, done in Clearview, caught me off guard so no photo yet...

[lamsalfl]

You mean ALDOT maintains that sparsely populated road?  haha

[Alex]

Forgot to mention that the signal less stretch along U.S. 90 & 98 (Battleship Parkway) is about to get shorter.    



New mast arm assemblies at Addsco Road.

[Alex]

You mean ALDOT maintains that sparsely populated road?  haha

Speaking of traffic counts, here are the 2008 tallies for Baldwin County's stretch of I-10:

Exit 27 to 30 - 61,210
Exit 30 to 35 - 60,790
Exit 35 to 38 - 49,180
Exit 38 to 44 - 42,290
Exit 44 to 53 - 27,440
Exit 53 to FL line -26,920
The lowest count in Mobile County is 43,380 between the state line and Exit 4.

And traffic counts in 2000:
Exit 27 to 30 - 56,940
Exit 30 to 35 - 56,080
Exit 35 to 38 - 38,180
Exit 38 to 44 - 33,740
Exit 44 to 53 - 25,700
Exit 53 to FL line -24,920
The lowest count in Mobile County was 38,150 between the state line and Exit 4.

[lamsalfl]

So is there generally a rule of thumb traffic count to warrant a 6 lane?  What about 8 lane?  You have to consider future travel needs as well as the numbers will probably not plateau.

Now that I see these I want to get MDOT's I-10 numbers off their website, and see where exactly should the next phase of 6 laning be.  (I've heard MDOT's headed east with hopes of getting to Exit 57.)

[froggie]

So is there generally a rule of thumb traffic count to warrant a 6 lane?

Typically in the 60-80K range.  Details depend on numerous variables, including truck percentage, exit spacing, peak hour percentage, and whatnot.

[agentsteel53]

New mast arm assemblies at Addsco Road.

gah, what's worse than a working traffic signal?  a non-working traffic signal.  I hate the Hell out of those covered-up signals, because I'm always approaching them with undue caution, wondering just what angle I have to see the finely polarized light to tell me that, yep, it's red.

or wondering if this is a state in which a nonfunctioning signal is a four-way stop, or if it's a freeforall.  

those covered up signals need to be accompanied by an advance sign that says "SIGNALS NOT YET IN SERVICE.  DRIVE AS THOUGH YOU DID NOT OBSERVE THEM."

just ask Brent about the one time we came up to the one non-working traffic signal in some small Alabama town, and coming up to the other branch was a cop.  What the Hell were we supposed to do?  Assume his branch did not work either, and keep going?  Assume his branch did not work either, and come to a stop, because Alabama may or may not be a four-way stop state?  Assume he had red?  That he had green?  That ... argh!  People, maintain your damn traffic signals.  I don't care if it's a brilliant 1930s example of Art Deco construction ... either have it work correctly, or take it down and give it to Alex.

[rawmustard]

gah, what's worse than a working traffic signal?  a non-working traffic signal.  I hate the Hell out of those covered-up signals, because I'm always approaching them with undue caution, wondering just what angle I have to see the finely polarized light to tell me that, yep, it's red.

When I was driving in Oshtemo Township a couple weeks ago, I didn't really have any trouble noticing a new signal was in the process of being installed with its faces turned away (no covers). I just proceeded through the intersection as I would have had before the signal was hung (having right-of-way over the cross-street, which serves a condo complex). I've done just fine making note of new signals not yet in operation, so any signage which would state that fact would be rather redundant.

[agentsteel53]

When I was driving in Oshtemo Township a couple weeks ago, I didn't really have any trouble noticing a new signal was in the process of being installed with its faces turned away (no covers). I just proceeded through the intersection as I would have had before the signal was hung (having right-of-way over the cross-street, which serves a condo complex). I've done just fine making note of new signals not yet in operation, so any signage which would state that fact would be rather redundant.

I've seen so many varieties of traffic signal (yellow housing, green housing, black housing, etc) that if I see one with a bag over it, I assume it's all-black housing.

a lot of the time they are not turned to the side - they simply have garbage bags taped over the housing - so it is only when you are very close to them do you realize that they are intentionally non-operational.  Due to the much lower contrast of garbage bags and tape against the background, as opposed to active illumination, this point is well past the decision for whether or not you should be slowing down or maintaining speed.

the worst is when garbage bags are taped only over the lenses.  Even lower contrast.  Congratulations, you saved your municipality twelve one-hundredths of a cent by using 29 fewer square inches of garbage bag.

[FLRoads]

The last button copy sign along Interstate 10 in Alabama bit the dust within the last two weeks. Its replacement, done in Clearview, caught me off guard so no photo yet...

I told you it would be replaced one day. I just knew it would...

[The Premier]

The last button copy sign along Interstate 10 in Alabama bit the dust within the last two weeks. Its replacement, done in Clearview, caught me off guard so no photo yet...

I told you it would be replaced one day. I just knew it would...

It looks like the end of an era in terms of button copy on I-10.

[FLRoads]

At least it will live on in all the photographs we have of it. The only item I believe that is still button copy on Interstate 10 in that general area is actually near Pensacola at the 9th Street overpass (heading eastbound). Other than that the remaining button copy sign is near Interstate 10 in Mobile, and I await the day when that will be replaced as well...