Mobile-Baldwin

[Alex]

I split the new Baldwin Beach Express photos away from the Foley Beach Express guide onto separate pages:
Northbound
Southbound

All of the old photos were reorganized and posted on a revised archive page.

Also did some more research with newsbank on the history of the Foley Beach Express and updated the main page.



Will have a few updated photos on the Foley Beach Express showing the now-signalized intersection with the Baldwin Beach Express in my next update.

[Alex]

The first of many more I am sure...

Amid concerns about mounting crashes, Baldwin County officials endorse new traffic light at Baldwin Beach Express and County Road 32

The Baldwin County Commission, aware that the intersection of the Express with County Road 32 has led to some devastating crashes, unanimously approved a competitive bid process for installing a new, hurricane-proof traffic signal.

The approximately $200,000 project includes the installation of traffic poles and lights on a permanent display that will replace temporary traffic lights that are hanged on wiring.

The current lights include a flashing yellow light along the Baldwin Beach Express, and flashing red lights on County Road 32.

County Engineer Cal Markert said the county plans to install temporary traffic signals on the Baldwin Beach Express and County Road 32 that will include red lights in both directions, within three to four months.

He said it will take "four to six months" for the poles to get made, delivered and installed.

[codyg1985]

Fast-track design phase on the I-10 Mobile River Bridge project viewed as 'enormous step forward'

[Alex]

Baldwin County officials seek state legislation to preserve the Beach Express and avoid turning it into the second coming of Ala. 59

Baldwin County officials, however, want to avoid making it a cluttered commercial corridor where traffic lights, curb cuts and other features -- if added -- could turn the Beach Express into the second coming of Ala. 59 or Airport Boulevard.

"The concern we have with the Beach Express is that it remains as an express to get people in and out of here and we don't want it to slow down for convenient stores and traffic lights and too much other stuff going on," Commissioner Tucker Dorsey said.

Dorsey and others have said that part of the problem with Ala. 59 is that multiple government jurisdictions, over the years, annexed portions of the road into their communities, added traffic lights and commercial developments.

Meanwhile, the county plans to adhere to its access management plan for the entire road, which limits access points for commercial developments to service roads.

Dorsey said the proposed extension from I-10 to I-65 will be designed "like an interstate" with limited access.

Robertsdale Mayor Charles Murphy said the only certain way to make sure the Beach Express is not encroached upon by local municipalities is to "give it to the state" where the Alabama Department of Transportation would be charged with maintaining it.

[codyg1985]

They should have made it a full freeway if they wanted to control access.

[NE2]

The point is that there are access management categories between full freeway and suburban hell.

[froggie]

There are, but Alabama has never done very good with any of those intermediate categories...

[Alex]

I-10 resurfacing work to begin next week with overnight lane closures expected until 2016

The scope includes resurfacing the interstate lanes, shoulders and ramps. It also includes a signal upgrade at U.S. 90/98 in Daphne, Ala. 181 and the Ala. 59 intersections. The 9.22 mile project ends at Ala. 59.

The project will be overseen by a local company. A $14.8 million low bid was awarded by the state to Mobile Asphalt Co. LLC of Theodore.

The speed limit through the project area will only be lowered during the temporary lane closures, which are restricted to overnight hours from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. Sunday-Thursday. The project is expected to last until summer 2016.

[Alex]

Traffic to be detoured Tuesday from County roads 13 and 64 in Baldwin County because of roundabout construction

The intersection is where a roundabout will be under construction. The new structure is expected to alleviate some of the traffic congestion along the two intersecting roads.

The estimated $1.4 million project is a collaboration between the Baldwin County Commission and the city of Daphne.

A grant through the Alabama Transportation Rehabilitation and Improvement Program -- better known as ATRIP -- will cover 80 percent of the cost; the city and county are splitting the remaining $672,000 in construction, design and engineering costs.

[codyg1985]

This doesn't surprise me in the slightest.

ALDOT to analyze feasibilty of tolling I-10 Bridge

With the reality that is transportation funding, I can tolling as the only feasibly way to get this thing built. Now, for the kicker. Will it just be the bridge that will be tolled, or will the widened bayway also be tolled? The firm doing the study also did a study for a toll bridge in Decatur as well as making AL 20 a freeway between the new bridge and I-565, and they recommended making the existing AL 20 tolled as well.

[froggie]

Federal law's pretty tight about tolling existing free Interstates, but the law is a lot looser when it comes to bridges and tunnels.  So it's quite possible that a widened Bayway could be tolled as the Bayway is basically a long bridge (unlike 90/98 which is mostly causeway).

[jdb1234]

Diamond in the rough: Exotic interchange could be coming to Ala. 181 and I-10 in Baldwin County:

http://www.al.com/news/mobile/index.ssf/2015/05/diamond_in_the_rough_exotic_in.html

[Alex]

Detour-driven traffic headaches end in Daphne with opening of new roundabout

Five months of construction, over a month of detour-driven headaches and $1.7 million made way for the opening of a new roundabout on Wednesday morning at the intersection of Baldwin County 64 and 13 in Daphne.

The busy intersection, west of Alabama 181, which sees roughly 20,000 cars a day, had been closed since July 7 and construction has been ongoing since mid-March.

Two more roundabouts are planned on Baldwin County 13 in Fairhope. The first one at the intersection of Fairhope Avenue is expected to cost about $1.4 million and the second one at the Gayfer Road Extension/Baldwin County 30 is pegged at $1 million. Both will also benefit from ATRIP grants with matching funds split between Fairhope and the county.

Baldwin County Engineer Cal Markert said crews are expected to begin moving utilities for the Fairhope Avenue/13 traffic circle in the fall or early winter months with construction starting by the summer of 2016. The timeline remains fluid though, he said. A previous estimate pegged it to open in the summer.

[Alex]

The new Mobile River bridge and expanded Bayway can't come soon enough. Heavy traffic and 40 mph across the Bayway yesterday. Not stop and go, just flat out volume. When they do widen the crossing, they need to extend the added lanes to at least AL 181 too.

Also noted a new Beaches mileage sign installed listing both AL 59 and the Baldwin Beach Express.  Resurfacing is also underway along this stretch with a 55 MPH speed limit noone followed.

[Alex]

A bit of road news from this article about the continued population boon in Baldwin County. The BP settlement referenced below also includes money for building more of the new U.S. 98 alignment between Wilmer and Semmes..

Why Baldwin County is Alabama's undisputed king of growth

Baldwin leaders and lawmakers are pushing for funding to extend the Baldwin Beach Express from Interstate 10 to I-65, creating a wide new path for beach-bound families. The first 12.8 miles of the new road opened in 2014, linking the Orange Beach/Gulf Shores and I-10.

The full Beach Express' construction is included in a bill, sponsored by state Sen. Bill Hightower, R-Mobile. That bill would divert some of the state's $1 billion economic settlement in the BP oil spill case toward funding the construction of the 24.5-mile extension.

County and city officials are also looking at ways to ease pressure on U.S. 98 and Alabama 181 on the Eastern Shore. For U.S. 98, a synchronized traffic light plan is being offered. For Alabama 181, a $3.5 million redesign of its I-10 intersection is in the planning stages [This is a planned DDI].

[Alex]

Say goodbye to Park Road 2. The popular cut through road and uniquely signed route was closed for good.



A one time reassurance marker for Park Road 2 - photographed May 16, 2004.

State stuns mayor, slams door on road to Gulf State Park

On Monday, the state startled the city by shutting a 1-1/2 mile portion of State Park Road 2. "It was almost in the dark of the night they closed the road," Craft said.

Park officials, in a statement from project manager Jill Allen Dixon of Sasaki Associates, said the closure is related to the conversion of the roadway into a "vehicle-free path for pedestrians, cyclists and the future park tram and emergency vehicles."

She said the change is part of the Gulf State Park master plan developed, in part, through the project's executive director, Cooper Shattuck.

Bentley spokeswoman Jennifer Ardis, in an emailed statement, said State Park Road 2 wasn't designed nor meant to be a major thoroughfare. "This closure was part of the master planning process," she said. "It was presented on the boards at every public meeting over several months. It has been embraced and applauded by users and anticipated users of the park. The few cars that traveled this road as a 'cut through' can easily take another route and not be affected."

But Craft said it was his understanding that the road's closure would be included during the project's second phase. He was surprised to learn that it was happening immediately.

And he said that State Park Road 2, despite Ardis' comments, was popularly used by local motorists to avoid tourism traffic and congestion along Beach Boulevard. He described the road as "very convenient."

[Alex]

Baldwin officials debate which road projects will get BP money

A potential infusion of BP money for coastal road projects might help pay for the widening of Canal Road in Orange Beach and Gulf Shores or Ala. 181 in Daphne south toward U.S. 98.

But a proponent of the House bill, approved late Thursday, says the money remains dedicated for its original intent: An extension of the Baldwin Beach Express and the construction of a U.S. 98 express route from Bayou La Batre to Semmes.

Bayou La Batre must be a typo and the express route likely refers to the new alignment north of Wilmer and Semmes instead.

Rep. Randy Davis, R-Daphne, said Friday that the "Baldwin Beach Express is still the goal" and that local lawmakers haven't wavered from it. He acknowledged that the $191 million in combined money going to Mobile and Baldwin counties won't be enough to build a new 24.5-mile road from Interstate 10 at Loxley to Interstate 65.

Even $260 million wouldn't be enough to fully finish the Beach Express and U.S. 98 projects.

According to estimates submitted to the Alabama Gulf Coast Recovery Council, the Beach Express' entire cost is estimated at $202 million, while the U.S. 98 extension would cost $265 million.

[codyg1985]

Hmm, that is $8 million per mile for the Baldwin Beach Express. Wonder if that means it would be a freeway?

[froggie]

These days?  Doubtful, especially given the topography, hills, and wetlands.  Look at the cost to finish 98...and that is NOT going to be freeway.

[Alex]

ALDOT is proposing to close the Water Street on-ramp to Interstate 10 east and redirecting traffic along Claiborne Street west to the Texas Street half diamond interchange to access the freeway there. The main aspect addressed is the instant merge of traffic from Downtown into the eastbound portal of the Wallace Tunnel.



If approved, the ramp to the right here for I-10 east will be closed, with work starting by late 2016 or early 2017.

Should eastbound I-10 on-ramp at Water Street be closed? ALDOT taking comments

Currently, eastbound drivers starting at the foot of Government Street take a single lane that curves sharply to the right, ending with a merge onto I-10 in the middle of a turn taking interstate traffic into the tunnel. The new concept would close that on-ramp completely, though not demolish it.
ALDOT Water Street plan.jpgIn this ALDOT illustration, the red arc shows the current on-ramp from Water Street to eastbound I-10, which would be closed. The hook-shaped blue line shows the suggested path of tunnel traffic along Claiborne Street to Texas Street, where it would turn back toward downtown and merge onto I-10 using a straight ramp. (Courtesy of ALDOT)

Instead, drivers would stay at ground level, taking two lanes of Water Street under the interstate and past the cruise terminal, curving around the bend onto Canal Street and back under I-10. At the intersection with Claiborne, drivers would turn left and follow Claiborne along two existing lanes all the way down to Texas Street, a run uninterrupted by lights, stop signs or cross traffic. The Texas-Claiborne intersection will be reconfigured so that drivers coming down Claiborne can turn left without crossing Texas Street traffic, looping under the interstate to come up a long, straight on-ramp on the other side.

[codyg1985]

Looks like that link above is broken.

[DeaconG]

Try this one:

http://www.al.com/news/mobile/index.ssf/2016/06/should_eastbound_i-10_on-ramp.html

[formulanone]

Are there any plans in place for extending the Foley Beach Express to AL 182? It appears the ROW exists to extend it.

I wouldn't mind the toll, if the road actually served its destination.

[barcncpt44]

ALDOT has plans to build a new road starting from the Foley Beach Express north of the toll bridge and going southwest and along a new bridge across the waterway and connect to AL 180.  Phase two would construct a road from there through the state park to AL 182.  But many are not happy of this route and thinks this is the normal "good ole boys" politics at play on this new road and bridge.  I mean what is wrong building a new route from the existing Foley Beach Express intersection with AL 180?  Anyways you can read the article from Lagniappe Mobile.  http://lagniappemobile.com/orange-beach-unveils-proposed-route-28-million-bridge/

[bdmoss88]

ALDOT has plans to build a new road starting from the Foley Beach Express north of the toll bridge and going southwest and along a new bridge across the waterway and connect to AL 180.  Phase two would construct a road from there through the state park to AL 182.  But many are not happy of this route and thinks this is the normal "good ole boys" politics at play on this new road and bridge.  I mean what is wrong building a new route from the existing Foley Beach Express intersection with AL 180?  Anyways you can read the article from Lagniappe Mobile.  http://lagniappemobile.com/orange-beach-unveils-proposed-route-28-million-bridge/

From the article, "According to Calametti, State Route 59 is at capacity and some drivers are still hesitant to use the Foley Beach Express toll bridge because they don't want to pay the $3.50 fee." So.. let's build a whole new highway and bridge a mile and a half away from the toll bridge? I suppose there's some statute in place that would keep them from just buying the toll bridge and removing the toll?