Mobile-Baldwin

[Alex]

Schillinger Road widening project moving forward, slowly

The widening of Schillinger Road, creating a so-called "urban loop" around Mobile's suburban edge, is progressing bit by bit, but it's a been a slow process.

An early section of the widening plan, which will make Schillinger Road five lanes from Old Pascagoula Road to Three Notch Road, was cleared for bid in November 2011 but the project was delayed, and bids did not go out until June. Construction workers are just now breaking ground on the project.

Work on the $4 million project was held up because the Mobile County Water, Sewer and Fire Protection Authority was slow to relocate some of its waterlines running through the right of way.

Another, much larger and more costly bit of the project should be put out for bid in January and go under construction about two months later, said Bryan Kegley, assistant county engineer.  That $24 million overhaul will make the road five lanes from Howell's Ferry to U.S. 98.

Another section from U.S. 98 to Lott Road should begin in 2014, Kegley said.

The undertaking, when complete, will make Schillinger Road five lanes wide for nearly the entire stretch from Old Pascagoula Road to Alabama 158.

Traffic relief is likely to be short lived, however.

West Mobile has undergone tremendous development over the last decade, and the pattern will likely be exacerbated by the widening of the road, county officials have acknowledged.

As more traffic flocks to the high-capacity street, commercial developers eager to attract the drivers will begin building strip malls and drive-in restaurants. As the development fills in, they will demand traffic lights, further slowing traffic. 

Not that I did not already know this... So in reading the article, the five-laning of the remaining two-lane sections will just accommodate sprawl, meaning there is no overall gain to traffic flow over expanding from two to five lanes? More of a reason that the West Mobile Bypass should have been built. NIMBY's were all against that, but for this and its future commercial development, not a peep.

[Alex]

I noted this past weekend orange signs for construction posted between Exits 44 and 53 of Interstate 10 in Baldwin County. Checked the ALDOT District 9 Construction Bulleton and found nothing on the project. After an email inquery, I am unhappy to report that a year long resurfacing project is about to begin with completion in October 2013. What will the speed limit be, 55? 50? Either way, ugh.   

[Alex]

The article is nondescript with regards to what interchange modifications, unless its the removal of the Texas Street half-diamond, which was proposed in 2003 to make way for the new bridge approach. Otherwise it appears to be about Interstate 10 where the long proposed new bridge would begin, which I have read nothing on in a long time.

Public forum to address I-10 interchange modifications

MOBILE, Alabama -- Residents will have an opportunity Oct. 2 to voice any suggestions or concerns regarding proposed modifications to the Interstate 10 interchange.

Hosted by the Alabama Department of Transportation, the "public involvement meeting" will focus on the area stretching from Texas Street to the western entrance of the Wallace Tunnel.

The meeting will be held in the Killian Room of the International Trade Center at 250 N. Water St. from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Participants wishing to comment during the forum must first sign in between 5 p.m. and 5:45 p.m., and each will be limited to two minutes addressing ALDOT representatives.

[Alex]

I-10 interchange project deemed 'priority' to improve Wallace Tunnel safety

No clear timetable exists for overhauling one of Mobile's most infamous malfunction junctions, but improving safety - not congestion - is the primary goal for the latest proposed overhaul of the Interstate 10 interchange at the Wallace Tunnel.

"I don't want to say there's not a congestion issue because there certainly is, but what we'll accomplish with this project is improving safety and ensuring more efficient operation," said Vince Calametti, engineer for the Mobile division of the Alabama Department of Transportation.

Although he could not provide exact figures while traveling late Friday afternoon between Montgomery and Mobile, Calametti estimated some 120 accidents have occurred at the eastbound tunnel entrance during the past three years.

The long-discussed $24 million project -- stretching from Texas Street to the western entrance of the Wallace Tunnel - has resurfaced intermittently for more than six years, but permanent funding and an approved plan have proved as elusive as a smooth eastbound merge at rush hour. City engineers have estimated some 80,000 vehicles travel through the tunnel on peak days.

Calametti said the project will be an 80-20 funding split between federal and state dollars, but the exact sources of those dollars have not been identified making a start or completion date Impossible to pinpoint.

Total waste of $24 million in nonexistent funds. If you are still talking about building what is now an $850-million bridge, prioritize that. The Water Street interchange will not be a safety issue once all of the through traffic is moved away. Adding a couple of years of construction before you actually break ground on a bridge, just to open up some more land for development and extend accel/decel lanes, is a terrible prospect.

Also, ripping out the Water Street stack intended for I-210 and combining that with the Canal Street diamond interchange into one diverging diamond interchange is the solution? What kind of useful traffic logic is that? The quote about it not addressing any congestion issues should immediately throw this project out into Mobile Bay...

Although the interchange modifications will most certainly reduce the number of accidents that often clog the overwrought Wallace Tunnel, the changes will not directly relieve congestion because traffic volume should remain unchanged.

Why does every area have to have either a "Spaghetti Junction" or "Malfunction Junction". No one calls that interchange Malfunction Junction, get a new term already...

[FLRoads]

And as it appears on the diagram, the footprint for Interstate 10 through traffic looks as if its going to be reduced to two lanes in each direction. Hopefully that is just a goof on the drafters part when they drew in the linework, and not what would actually be constructed (if the project ever happens). All this will do is push the current bottleneck further to the south of the tunnel.

I also wonder if this project ever comes to fruition if they will finally remove that rusted old crosswalk over the interstate or if they would actually find a way to allow it to remain! Knowing them they would perform the latter!! lol

[Alex]

On my latest drive to Mobile, I decided to swing southward to check on progress of the Baldwin Beach Express. The roadway is nearing completion from U.S. 90 north to County Road 64. Four lanes of traffic are open, with some landscaping work still underway. Traffic now curves northwest to the temporary north end at CR-64, with the old alignment of CR 83 now completed severed from the original alignment. Unfortunately the rural intersection between U.S. 90 and CR-83 will be signalized. Mast arm signals in body bags are already awaiting activation. Work further south still has a ways to go and is still in the grading stage.



The neutered trailblazer for I-10 posted just north of U.S. 90. The original CR 83 bridge ahead was demolished and replaced to match the new southbound span.



Detour I-10 trailblazer posted ahead of the temporary, and soon to be signalized, end of the Baldwin Beach Express south at US 90.

[codyg1985]

What is up with the Detour West I-10 trailblazers? This isn't yet siphoning traffic from I-10 is it?

[Alex]

What is up with the Detour West I-10 trailblazers? This isn't yet siphoning traffic from I-10 is it?

They are posted along County Road 64 from Exit 53 westward in both directions. First noted them in December 2010.

I figure they are incident detours, like the ones in Baton Rouge or the Emergency Detours in Michigan and northwest Indiana.

[Alex]

I-10 interchange meeting draws no vocal criticism from capacity crowd

In simplest terms, the proposal removes all bridges and ramps off of I-10 from Texas Street to the western entrance of the tunnel and lengthens the acceleration lane by backing up the Wallace Tunnel entrance ramp to Canal Street.

Mike Patrick, project manager with Thompson Engineering Inc., said told those in attendance the proposed west tunnel interchange won't add lanes to I-10, but it will improve the interstate's alignment which should improve the approach of eastbound lanes to the tunnel as well as the exit of westbound traffic.

"It will require the removal of some structures and the construction of additional structures in spots along the route," Patrick said. The project will also create a new "diverging diamond" interchange at Canal and Water streets and a local connector road linking Claiborne and Jackson streets across to Water Street where Royal Street connects under I-10.

Vince Calametti, engineer for the Mobile division of the Alabama Department of Transportation, said the open-house style format prior to Tuesday's meeting elicited "a lot of good ideas" from members of the community, and now the department will examine which of the suggestions are feasible and return with a final design by the summer of 2013.

I hope a no build option is one of the final designs...

[Alex]

ALDOT: Saraland road will be closed for six months starting Tuesday

SARALAND, Alabama -- The Alabama Department of Transportation will close part of Shelton Beach Road for approximately six months on Tuesday to replace a bridge that's more than 50 years old.

Traffic will be detoured from Shelton Beach Road, also known as State Route 213, at milepost 4.6 and onto State Route 158 leading to U.S. Highway 43.

Construction crews will replace a bridge built in 1951 over Norton Creek, state highway department officials said. The bridge is in Saraland, Ala.

The $830,000 project will close Shelton Beach Road starting at 4 p.m., weather permitting.

[lamsalfl]

What about the I-10 widening?  How much longer until that is finished?

[Alex]

Interstate 10 lane closures to begin Sunday in Baldwin County

As part of a $12.1 million resurfacing project, the Alabama Department of Transportation will begin closing lanes on Interstate 10 on Sunday, Feb. 3.

The paving will take place between Ala. 59 and the Baldwin County 64/Wilcox Road and will require eastbound and westbound lane closures beginning at 11 p.m. each Sunday and ending by 6 a.m. each Thursday for roughly the next 5 weeks, according to a highway department news release.

[Alex]

University of South Alabama pride featured in planned Bankhead Tunnel makeover

Drivers may notice a change in the coming months while driving through the Bankhead Tunnel from Baldwin County to downtown Mobile.

A beautification project slated to start this year has reimagined the Baldwin County entrance to the Bankhead Tunnel to showcase the upper Gulf Coast's only major public university.

An artistic rendering created by officials with the University of South Alabama

[Alex]

Baldwin County beat: New biking and walking path, strategic plan, new highway

A ceremony to celebrate the construction of the Baldwin Beach Express and an interchange is set for 10 a.m. Friday.

The event will be near the construction at U.S. 90 and Baldwin Beach Express.

Among the people expected at the ceremony are Gov. Robert Bentley and former governors Fob James and Bob Riley.

I am assuming this is the Interstate 10 and Foley Beach Express interchange, but the article is very vague about it. It also references Alabama 59 as U.S. 59...

[codyg1985]

^ I believe that is correct. A project to build the interchange was let in January, Low bidder was McInnis Construction out of Montgomery for $10,577,901.14.

[Alex]

Baldwin County Beach Expressway to be Completed by 2014

A video piece I caught this morning, confirming that the celebration is for the next phase of work to link the Baldwin Beach Express with I-10. The public is invited, anyone want to go? 

Hopefully the speed limit on I-10 is now reduced to 50 mph for the entire duration of work as it is in Mobile County for the four-laning. June 2014 is one date touted for the highway's completion, but then "a few months later" for the interchange and then something about "Spring Break of 2015" for overall completion.   

[codyg1985]

I honestly don't understand why this isn't a freeway. All of this "economic development" is going to mean traffic signals out the wazoo, but no one seems to want to acknowledge that.

[Alex]

I honestly don't understand why this isn't a freeway. All of this "economic development" is going to mean traffic signals out the wazoo, but no one seems to want to acknowledge that.

There already is a set of signals in place on US 90 for the new roadway. That intersection is still very rural and could easily get by with just a stop sign for US 90, but they probably foresee gas stations and fast food rising at the junction, the way it did at US 98. It should be a full freeway as both a way to traverse the 40 miles to the coast but also a solid evacuation route over the developed stretches of Alabama 59. The portion north to I-65, if it ever gets funded, may very well be a freeway because there is nothing there and only the Megasite is proposed.

[Alex]

Groundbreaking took place today at the ceremony.

Alabama political, business and community leaders gather to celebrate Baldwin Beach Express

The current 12.8-mile project's phases include the Foley Beach Express to Baldwin County 32 at a cost of $5.6 million; Baldwin 32 to U.S. 90, $48 million; U.S. 90 to Baldwin County 64, $16.7 million; and Baldwin 64 to the I-10 interchange, $16.2 million. Including a corridor study costing $147,000, the total comes to $86.7 million that is covered by federal, state and county funding.

While the total project is expected to be finished in about 20 months, the I-10 interchange work, which also includes connecting U.S. 90 and Baldwin 64, will begin Monday. The longest phase, between 32 and 90 is well under way and is expected to be completed around the same time as the interchange, highway officials said.

[Alex]

Still nothing on the Interstate 10 Mobile River bridge concept, which would eliminate the safety concerns with the Wallace Tunnel west entrance. This project removes the directional interchange for Water Street (the original planned I-210 south end) and adds a diverging diamond at Canal Street (which currently sees a half-diamond interchange).

Feds took back $27 million in funding for Wallace Tunnel onramp fix

Federal officials have withdrawn $27 million in transportation funding that had been dedicated to overhauling the dangerous Interstate 10 interchange at the George Wallace Tunnel, said Vince Calametti, director of the state highway department's Mobile office.

The project, which was given the green light in 2010, would remove the interchange at Water Street, which dumps traffic onto I-10 just at the entrance of the tunnel at a steep angle and a very short acceleration lane. The interchange would be moved south to Canal Street.

The project, whose total cost is estimated to be between $21 million to $22 million, was originally slated to begin as soon as last year.

Calametti said that he fully intends to pursue the project despite the loss of the funding. The project is small enough that the state will be able to absorb it into its rolling list of projects, so finding a special funding source probably won't be necessary, Calametti said.

Design on the project is already underway and is scheduled to wrap up in the summer of 2014, Calametti said. When that is done, the project will be added to the list of projects ready for bid as funding becomes available, he said.

[Alex]

Mobile city and county road projects include continued focus at Brookley Aeroplex, interstate work and Schillinger Road

Previous Pay-As-You-Go programs set aside funding for widening Schillinger from Howell's Ferry Road to U.S. Route 98 and south from Cottage Hill Road toward Three Notch Road. The southern project, at an estimated $12.5 million, includes the construction of a new bridge over Halls Mill Creek.

Other state-funded projects are in the works, though funding has yet to be identified and planning is not complete. Those include, among other things, reconstruction work along Wilson Avenue in Prichard, replacing 30-year-old lighting to I-10 in both Mobile and Baldwin counties, and demolishing a 30 to 40-year-old welcoming center and rebuilding a new one at the Alabama-Mississippi state line.

Some of the projects:

Interstate 10 [widening] (west of Carol Plantation Road to east of Halls Mill Creek): $26 million, projected to be completed in November

Schillinger Road (widening from Howell's Ferry Road to U.S. Route 98): Project will last 18 months

Schillinger Road South (widening of Schillinger south of Cottage Hill Road includes a new bridge): $12 million, projected to start this fall and continue until next year.

Dauphin Island Parkway (resurfacing from Dauphin Island bridge to Laurendine Road): $2 million, projected to be completed by June 24.

Government Street (resurfacing of Government Street through midtown and downtown Mobile to be completed later this month).

Tanner Williams Road (widening from Snow Road to North of Ziegler Boulevard) $17.5 million project includes a new bridge over Pierce Creek.

Cody Road (resurfacing from Overlook Road to Old Shell Road): 1.8 mile project has no time line.

Route 217 (resurfacing from U.S. Route 45 to Jim Tom Circle): $1.97 million project concludes May 31.

Interstate 65 (resurfacing from north of Alabama Route 158 in Saraland to north of U.S. Route 43): $7 million, projected to be completed July 1, 2014.

Coy Smith Road (resurfacing from School Street to U.S. Route 43): $5.2 million, projected to be completed next year.

Grand Bay Wilmer Road South (Newman Road to Airport Boulevard) [resurfacing]: $1.8 million project, projected to start this summer and continue for 10 months.

[roadwarrior]

http://www.wkrg.com/story/22488245/new-highway-98-86-million-spent-decade-to-go

Article on stalled US 98 expansion from WKRG

[froggie]

http://www.change.org/petitions/alabama-department-of-transportation-include-bicycle-pedestrian-facilities-on-the-i-10-mobile-river-bridge

A petition on change.org I noticed that calls for ALDOT to include bike/ped facilities on the proposed I-10 Mobile River Bridge.  The petition cites successful facilities on the new US 17 Cooper River Bridge in Charleston, SC and also on the Woodrow Wilson Bridge near DC.

IMO, this is a good idea.  There's really no good way for a bicycle to get across the Alabama River south of Jackson.  Wallace Tunnel doesn't allow them...the tunnel on US 98/Government St is way too narrow, and the Cochran Bridge is, IMO, short on such facilities.

[brownpelican]

http://www.wkrg.com/story/22488245/new-highway-98-86-million-spent-decade-to-go

Article on stalled US 98 expansion from WKRG

What in the world were they thinking when they began this project?

[roadwarrior]

http://www.wkrg.com/story/22488245/new-highway-98-86-million-spent-decade-to-go

Article on stalled US 98 expansion from WKRG

What in the world were they thinking when they began this project?

Clearly they weren't.  

I've never understood why they had to expand it to the state line and bypass Wilmer.   When the project was first announced, it was supposed to be a much shorter extension of Alabama 158 from Schillinger Rd. to Moffat Rd. somewhere between Semmes and Fairview.  Then the rest of Moffat Rd. was going to stay US 98 but be widened (this part isn't as busy and does not need to be bypassed; Mobile and Semmes probably should be).  To me, this would have been less costly than their awfully risky decision to pave through numerous wetlands; I find it hard to believe that it would be more costly to buy the land needed to expand that part of the current 98.  If they had stayed with this plan; it would have already been built. 

I often drive down the previous phase of the US 98 expansion (the expansion of ALA 158 from US 45 to Schillinger Rd.).  The sides of it are constantly falling apart and I almost always see construction crews out there working on it.  And that's