Mobile-Baldwin

[Alex]

Dead again...

Baldwin County Commission votes to end controversial service road project

BAY MINETTE, Alabama -- A proposed Interstate 10 service road near TimberCreek subdivision in Daphne that created a firestorm of controversy over the past year is dead -- this time by a unanimous vote.

"I'll make a motion we officially drop the project, and have the county engineer withdraw the Corps of Engineers permit application without prejudice,"  said Commissioner Charles "Skip"  Gruber. "That way if it ever comes back there will have to be a public hearing about it."

The action came after a plea by TimberCreek resident Chester McConnell, an outspoken opponent of the proposed road who saw the project killed last year only to be revived in December.

"Many people are apprehensive because the permit is not withdrawn,"  McConnell told commissioners before the vote. "I ask that you end it."

County Engineer Cal Markert said he had no problem with the motion, and would gladly send a letter to the corps advising them of the action. He said he had not yet received a letter from the corps affirming that they had placed the application in inactive status as of March 28, but he expected one.

Commissioner Bob James suggested that the county also act to turn over maintenance of the entire length of Woodrow Lane to Daphne. The county retains jurisdiction over about 200 feet of the road not included in former annexations by Daphne. The road, located almost entirely inside Daphne's municipal limits, would have been extended to create the proposed service road joining retail centers at Bass Pro Shops and the Eastern Shore Centre -- both located in Spanish Fort's corporate limits.

McConnell said he was glad to see the county act to abandon the project he described as wasteful spending and environmentally harmful, calling their vote "courageous."

Another outspoken critic, TimberCreek resident Ian Walters said after the vote that he was pleased, but had lingering questions about the way the project was handled.

After the vote, service road opponent Daphne Councilman Gus Palumbo said, "I was glad to lead the fight and am gratified that the expensive "˜Road to Nowhere,' which would have benefited land developers to the detriment of the environment and extant homeowners, is now dead."

As for taking on maintenance of Woodrow Lane, he said Daphne officials would have to examine the benefits and liabilities of the action.

[Alex]

Baldwin County opens new $2.1 million 'Styx River Steel Bridge'

BAY MINETTE, Alabama – The Baldwin County Highway Department has opened the new $2.1 million "Styx River Steel Bridge" on Baldwin County 68. The new 24-foot-wide span replaces the single-lane "Steel Bridge"  built in 1948.

The name of the new concrete structure standing 12 feet higher than the old metal bridge will remain "Styx River Steel Bridge"  – a moniker that suits the local residents, according to reports.

[Alex]

Orange Beach council supports Wolf Bay bridge; still no timeline for the project

[Alex]

Traffic Engineers to hold meetings on how to fix Airport Boulevard

MOBILE, Alabama -- Traffic engineers this month will hold a pair of public meetings to get input on how best to fix chronic traffic snarls on Airport Boulevard.

Consultants with Volkert, an engineering consulting firm, have been drawing up ways to modify intersections along the notoriously congested thoroughfare in order to improve traffic flow, said Jennifer White, the city's traffic engineer.

Preliminary renderings of the designs are to be presented at the meetings, which will be held May 17 at Baker High School and May 19 at St. Pius X School. Both meetings begin at 5 p.m. and end at 7 p.m.

White said that the format will be informal with a number of stations set up so that people can come and go as they please.

Because the right of way on Airport Boulevard cannot easily be expanded to add lanes, she said, the engineers have been focusing on ways to rework the intersections, sometimes coming up with several alternatives for each one.

A few of the configurations on offer are likely to seem alien to Mobile drivers, she said.

One of them, called a single point interchange, would create an overpass over the intersection allowing through traffic to continue without stopping for a light.

Traffic engineers will take the input from the meetings into consideration when they narrow down the list of alternatives, White said. When the final alternatives are chosen, she said, they will hold another round of public-input meetings.

It could be years, however, until any of the intersections are reconfigured as the city will have to find a funding source, likely the federal government.

Federal road money is required to pass through the Mobile Metropolitan Planning Organization, which sets spending priorities in the area.

[agentsteel53]

how to fix Airport Boulevard

full freeway.  get rid of access to side streets.

[codyg1985]

Maybe do something like Memorial Pkwy in Huntsville with one-way service roads and overpasses at major intersections. There is not much additional right of way required to do that.

[Alex]

Maybe do something like Memorial Pkwy in Huntsville with one-way service roads and overpasses at major intersections. There is not much additional right of way required to do that.

The only way to really improve things, outside of the minimal benefits signal timing achieves, is to build a freeway within the median and convert the outside lanes to service roads a la Memorial Parkway in Huntsville (not that that would ever happen!) The article talks about adding lanes, but there is already a lengthy six-lane stretch of Airport Boulevard. The road has remained virtually unchanged (except for several traffic signal additions) since I first drove it in 1996. Traffic flow was bad on it then as well.

Better yet, they should build an elevated viaduct the way they did for US 6 in Omaha. 

The biggest problem with Mobile traffic movements is that there are no high-speed east-west corridors. All routes from Interstate 65 to West Mobile consist of slow moving arterials with no access control. Alabama 158 to the north provides a faster route, but it requires traveling a good distance out of the way and there is no guarantee that the current rural frontage will remain as such.

[ModusPwnins]

I agree completely, but it's doubtful the work would ever get done...and even if it were, I'm sure my esteemed local government would find a way to frak it all up.  The way it stands now, there's probably enough room to do an elevated four-lane expressway separated by Jersey barriers, with on and off ramps going to the service roads, as far out as University Blvd.  The existing service roads would need to be converted to one-way, and a few gaps in them would need to be closed where they are currently occupied by banks, gas stations, and restaurants.

But that only takes care of half the problem.  The rest of the road all the way out to Schillinger is pretty awful as well, and lacks the pre-existing service roads that would make the eastern half relatively easy to do.  Considering how local businesses are whining about the aesthetic impact of the proposed Wallace Tunnel bypass, you can bet a fresh batch of NIMBYism will get in the way of this much-needed upgrade.

[Alex]

Adding traffic lights the mayor says? Seriously, how is that going to help traffic flow? 

U.S. 43 expansion has Creola mayor concerned

Repeated pleas from Creola officials have spurred construction plans for U.S. 43 near ThyssenKrupp's steel plant, according to Alabama Department of Transportation officials.

But Creola Mayor Don Nelson told the Press-Register that he wonders whether the changes aren't too little, too late.

Work on the Transportation Department's plan is slated to begin in November 2013, when the state highway will be widened from four to six lanes from where Interstate 65 pours into Creola and north to Axis, according to agency spokeswoman Rebecca White.

Said Nelson, "It's hard enough getting across two lanes. Gosh, in my opinion, you're just compounding the problem by adding more lanes."

The plan also calls for extending Jackson Road from its current end near the interstate to the Shell station on U.S. 43. At that new intersection, Nelson said, the Transportation Department will place a stop light.

Traffic grows with expansion

Nelson said that since ThyssenKrupp began building its steel plant in 2007, traffic in his city of about 2,000 people has grown exponentially. He has approached state transportation officials several times, urging changes to Creola's roadways and intersections.

Transportation Department records show that daily traffic in Creola remained nearly steady from 2006 to 2009, hovering at about 19,000 vehicles each day.

But in 2010, when the steel plant officially opened, traffic jumped to nearly 23,000 vehicles per day in the southernmost portion of Creola, and to more than 24,000 per day just north of Radcliff Road.

What Creola really needs, Nelson said, are traffic lights to manage all those extra cars and trucks.

The Transportation Department's plans include only one light at the new entrance to Jackson Road. As of now, other busy intersections, like the one at Radcliff Road or the current entrance of Jackson Road, aren't slated for lights, Nelson said.

At a recent meeting, Transportation Department officials agreed to study the roadway again to see if additional lights were warranted, Nelson said.

"Lights help break up the traffic,"  he said. "Could you imagine driving on Airport Boulevard with no lights? It's like that here."

U-Turn to get to Dollar General

To turn into the city's popular Dollar General store, a motorist must make a U-turn, Nelson said. "If you put a light at Radcliff Road,"  the mayor said, "that would help people get into the parking lot."

Nelson on a recent afternoon pointed to a makeshift cross in the median that divides U.S. 43 by Jackson Road. He said that perhaps a light would have prevented at least one man's death.

"One wreck is too many,"  Nelson said. "And if this continues, we're going to have a bad situation."

He said, "I've been told that traffic lights cause accidents. But speeding causes accidents, too, and I feel like lights will help slow people down."

Several attempts to reach Creola Police Chief Jerry Taylor to ascertain the number of wrecks on U.S. 43 each year were unsuccessful.

"People get out of work and they want to get home,"  Nelson said. "They get antsy and they get reckless."

He said, "This is probably one of the busiest state highways, and it will only get busier."  

[froggie]

The analogy to Airport Blvd is a bit of an apples-and-oranges comparison.

[roadwarrior]

About Airport Blvd., yes it would be great to do things to improve the traffic flow of it.  And a few things to alleviate traffic would be great.  But let's relax a bit before we turn the road into a all out freeway (or practically an interstate) like some of these posts have said.  This is the most lucrative road in Mobile.  It's one big giant business magnet and the lifeblood of Mobile.  No other road in the city can attract business like it can.  Let's think before we risk killing all of the businesses on it.  Having a traffic light here and a traffic light there is what helps create the big intersections (Schillinger Rd.?, University Blvd.?, Azaela/McGregor?) that most of these business on located at.  I like the idea that one of the posts had; to reduce the amount of several of traffic lights at  intersections that are not big and shrinking the amount of lights to mostly just the big intersections. 

I'm all for more traffic lights in Creola.  However, I don't get the Creola mayor's oppostion to more lanes on U.S. 43.  It's a huge sign of progress; it's not as if there is a ton of businesses there to begin with to turn into.  All of this over a Dollar General?  Just be thankful there are more vehicles stopping through your town and possibly spending money and maybe one day attracting some real businesses.  He clearly isn't familiar with real traffic.  I live nearby in Saraland and we have far more lights, and at least three Dollar General's.  Creola's mayor should have considered driving down Alabama 158 around oh let's say 5PM and gotten a little perspective on that.

[froggie]

Having a traffic light here and a traffic light there is what helps create the big intersections (Schillinger Rd.?, University Blvd.?, Azaela/McGregor?) that most of these business on located at.

It also helps create additional traffic that overwhelms whatever road improvements were made to begin with, and is a semi-direct cause of congestion and accidents, *ESPECIALLY* if those businesses have direct access to the roadway.  It's a never-ending downward spiral.

However, I don't get the Creola mayor's oppostion to more lanes on U.S. 43.  It's a huge sign of progress; it's not as if there is a ton of businesses there to begin with to turn into.

I don't know if I'd call traffic congestion a "huge sign of progress".

I can definitely understand the mayor's opposition to more lanes.  It's a safety issue at those intersections that do not have traffic signals.

[Alex]

About Airport Blvd., yes it would be great to do things to improve the traffic flow of it.  And a few things to alleviate traffic would be great.  But let's relax a bit before we turn the road into a all out freeway (or practically an interstate) like some of these posts have said.  This is the most lucrative road in Mobile.  It's one big giant business magnet and the lifeblood of Mobile.  No other road in the city can attract business like it can.  Let's think before we risk killing all of the businesses on it.  Having a traffic light here and a traffic light there is what helps create the big intersections (Schillinger Rd.?, University Blvd.?, Azaela/McGregor?) that most of these business on located at.  I like the idea that one of the posts had; to reduce the amount of several of traffic lights at  intersections that are not big and shrinking the amount of lights to mostly just the big intersections. 

I'm all for more traffic lights in Creola.  However, I don't get the Creola mayor's oppostion to more lanes on U.S. 43.  It's a huge sign of progress; it's not as if there is a ton of businesses there to begin with to turn into.  All of this over a Dollar General?  Just be thankful there are more vehicles stopping through your town and possibly spending money and maybe one day attracting some real businesses.  He clearly isn't familiar with real traffic.  I live nearby in Saraland and we have far more lights, and at least three Dollar General's.  Creola's mayor should have considered driving down Alabama 158 around oh let's say 5PM and gotten a little perspective on that.

Actually my "convert Airport to an elevated freeway" concept is purely a joke. In actuality, access control and signal management is about all that can be done. The biggest problem is that the frontage road system directly ties into several of the signals, mandating an additional phase to each traffic signal cycle. That should be managed better. Secondly they should have removed the opposite loop ramps from the interchange with I-65, not the on-ramps. Too little too late now, but had they, the signals there would only govern the on-ramps, resulting in half cycles instead of full blown ones (I think of US 17A at I-26 in Summerville, SC, which is a similar junction between two busy roads).

There was a mention of adding a SPUI to Airport Boulevard, and I imagine that is what they would do at Airport Boulevard and Schillinger Road. A SPUI would not really benefit here IMO, because you have adjacent signals in all directions. So one corridor gets to pass over one another only to stop at the adjacent intersection. A lack of zoning and planning is the culprit to the woes here. One thing they did that was right though however was to eliminate the split-phase signal for Schillinger Road travelers. Split-phase should never be used between two arterials!

As for Airport, the hey day of the strip as the premier commercial corridor is certainly over. Look at how disparate the economic future of the Festival Center is. See how Springdale Mall died and is now a glorified big box retail center. Continue further west and note large swaths of empty parking lots. Meanwhile drive on Schillinger Road and see all the newer shopping centers and how busy they are. This is why Mobile rushed to annex those, because their sales tax base kept shifting west to outside the city line.

You can't think of the economic market of Mobile without considering Wal-Mart. They are definitely the retail center of Mobile, and the chain has taken its toll on other retails markedly. There is now a Wal-Mart at Leroy Stevens and Cottage Hill Roads, an area previously reserved for just residential and small scale business (like Dollar General or Circle K) for instance. If they are not already, they need to assess impact fees to the retail giant, as their stores generate such a large amount of traffic (think of US 98 at Schillinger Road, Beltline Highway, Rangeline Road north of I-10, etc...).



Thinking about the Creola situation, access management is key, and I disagree with the Mayor in that having to U-turn to reach their Dollar General is unacceptable. Eliminating cross-traffic for U-turn lanes is a better way than opening up every stretch to a new at-grade, or even worse, a new traffic light. If things are that bad through Creola, a new expressway alignment to US 43 northward should be considered. There is land to the east that is vastly undeveloped.

[Alex]

Changes to Airport Boulevard could be dramatic

Traffic engineers on Tuesday laid out dozens of dramatic Airport Boulevard intersection overhauls during a Tuesday meeting with Mobile City Council members, but some of the alternatives in the offing could pit the interests of motorists against those of commercial property owners. (Press-Register/Mark R. Kent)

MOBILE, Alabama -- Traffic engineers on Tuesday laid out dozens of dramatic Airport Boulevard intersection overhauls during a Tuesday meeting with Mobile City Council members, but some of the alternatives in the offing could pit the interests of motorists against those of commercial property owners.

A previous, less ambitious, effort to address the traffic-snarled roadway raised similar tensions and was ultimately scuttled after loud complaints from the business sector.

The latest move stems from a simple but nevertheless difficult question: How do you improve the traffic capacity on Airport Boulevard between Snow Road and The Loop without adding lanes, which would require the purchase of massive amounts of private property?

The Mobile Metropolitan Planning Organization hired Volkert & Associates, a consulting firm, to find answers.

Conceptual drawings shown to the council on Tuesday included everything from clover-leaf-shaped interchanges to exotic, multilevel interchanges, some of which have only been tried a handful of times elsewhere.

The least-disruptive plan for most of the intersections was a single-point interchange, a type of overpass that would allow traffic on airport to continue without stopping, while cross-street traffic passed underneath.

Previous effort at Airport Boulevard reform went nowhere

A series of those interchanges could conceivably allow a driver on Airport to travel from Sage Avenue to University with few stops, if any.

David Webber, a Volkert vice president, acknowledged that some of the intersection configurations would improve traffic flow at the expense of some businesses. However, he said, if Airport Boulevard wasn't perceived as such a traffic headache, more people might consider shopping at the businesses that line the street.

Mobile's previous traffic engineer, Bill Metzger, has said, he once tried to convert Airport's service roads into one-way streets in order to improve the timing of traffic lights, but property and business owners rebelled, fearing reduced access to their establishments.

The effort was eventually scrapped.

Jennifer White, the city's current traffic chief, declined to release digital renderings of the latest proposals until after a pair of upcoming public input meetings. Some of the interchange designs are so complicated that members of the public should have an opportunity to hear them explained by an expert before they are distributed, she said.

The first meeting will be held May 17 at Baker High School, the second on May 19 at St. Pius X School. Both meetings begin at 5 p.m. and end at 7 p.m.

The $200,000 tab for Volkert's study was picked up largely by the federal government, with the city of Mobile and Mobile County chipping in $20,000 each, White said.

Actually implementing a final plan will likely cost hundreds of millions of dollars, Webber said.

Attacking such an undertaking all at once would cost more money than the Metropolitan Planning Organization, which controls federal money, would be likely to pony up for any single project.

Even if it did, the city probably couldn't afford a 20 percent matching requirement.

By focusing on one stretch at a time, the project could be feasible, Webber said.

[codyg1985]

One thing about Memorial Pkwy in Huntsville, which implements single-point interchanges with one-way frontage roads, is that there are some businesses that go out of business along the upgraded sections of the parkway. It is concieveable that a similar situation would occur along Airport Blvd, but at the same time much of Memorial Pkwy in Huntsville passes through lower income areas, and those areas are where more businesses have left.

If the businesses work together with the planners to implement a workable solution for business access, then I don't see why businesses would be hurt by this.

[NE2]

Thinking about the Creola situation, access management is key, and I disagree with the Mayor in that having to U-turn to reach their Dollar General is unacceptable. Eliminating cross-traffic for U-turn lanes is a better way than opening up every stretch to a new at-grade, or even worse, a new traffic light. If things are that bad through Creola, a new expressway alignment to US 43 northward should be considered. There is land to the east that is vastly undeveloped.

An intermediate solution would be backage roads with no direct access from US 43 into the parking lot.

[roadwarrior]

Having a traffic light here and a traffic light there is what helps create the big intersections (Schillinger Rd.?, University Blvd.?, Azaela/McGregor?) that most of these business on located at.

It also helps create additional traffic that overwhelms whatever road improvements were made to begin with, and is a semi-direct cause of congestion and accidents, *ESPECIALLY* if those businesses have direct access to the roadway.  It's a never-ending downward spiral.

However, I don't get the Creola mayor's oppostion to more lanes on U.S. 43.  It's a huge sign of progress; it's not as if there is a ton of businesses there to begin with to turn into.

I don't know if I'd call traffic congestion a "huge sign of progress".

I can definitely understand the mayor's opposition to more lanes.  It's a safety issue at those intersections that do not have traffic signals.

That is true that it can create additional traffic as you say and I would love to see an attempt to at least streamline some of it or take pressure off the road and its intersections in some way but the truth is that businesses are located at these intersections primarily because of the "overwhelming traffic" and would be ignored by drivers if the road was to remove all or most of the intersections.  And without the businesses on this road the traffic would start to disappear, thus defeating the purpose of the supposed improvement.  (Let's be honest, most people don't drive on Airport Blvd. to get to the airport.)  I've seen the same thing happen to I-165's effect on Telegraph Rd., Wilson Ave., and MLK Blvd.  Traffic has drastically decreased on those roads where they already are economically depressed. 

As for Creola, I don't know that I would call adding new lanes in a tiny city that really only has a few gas stations and a Dollar General "a traffic congestion".  If anything that would alleviate much of a possible bottleneck on the road.  This is not a massively busy city (unlike Airport Blvd. in Mobile) and it needs to attract businesses to build up jobs and tax revenue.  More vehicles in Creola is largely a good thing.  I think a light or improvement that keeps them from having to make U-turns would be great for the Dollar General. 

[roadwarrior]

About Airport Blvd., yes it would be great to do things to improve the traffic flow of it.  And a few things to alleviate traffic would be great.  But let's relax a bit before we turn the road into a all out freeway (or practically an interstate) like some of these posts have said.  This is the most lucrative road in Mobile.  It's one big giant business magnet and the lifeblood of Mobile.  No other road in the city can attract business like it can.  Let's think before we risk killing all of the businesses on it.  Having a traffic light here and a traffic light there is what helps create the big intersections (Schillinger Rd.?, University Blvd.?, Azaela/McGregor?) that most of these business on located at.  I like the idea that one of the posts had; to reduce the amount of several of traffic lights at  intersections that are not big and shrinking the amount of lights to mostly just the big intersections.  

I'm all for more traffic lights in Creola.  However, I don't get the Creola mayor's oppostion to more lanes on U.S. 43.  It's a huge sign of progress; it's not as if there is a ton of businesses there to begin with to turn into.  All of this over a Dollar General?  Just be thankful there are more vehicles stopping through your town and possibly spending money and maybe one day attracting some real businesses.  He clearly isn't familiar with real traffic.  I live nearby in Saraland and we have far more lights, and at least three Dollar General's.  Creola's mayor should have considered driving down Alabama 158 around oh let's say 5PM and gotten a little perspective on that.

Actually my "convert Airport to an elevated freeway" concept is purely a joke. In actuality, access control and signal management is about all that can be done. The biggest problem is that the frontage road system directly ties into several of the signals, mandating an additional phase to each traffic signal cycle. That should be managed better. Secondly they should have removed the opposite loop ramps from the interchange with I-65, not the on-ramps. Too little too late now, but had they, the signals there would only govern the on-ramps, resulting in half cycles instead of full blown ones (I think of US 17A at I-26 in Summerville, SC, which is a similar junction between two busy roads).

There was a mention of adding a SPUI to Airport Boulevard, and I imagine that is what they would do at Airport Boulevard and Schillinger Road. A SPUI would not really benefit here IMO, because you have adjacent signals in all directions. So one corridor gets to pass over one another only to stop at the adjacent intersection. A lack of zoning and planning is the culprit to the woes here. One thing they did that was right though however was to eliminate the split-phase signal for Schillinger Road travelers. Split-phase should never be used between two arterials!

As for Airport, the hey day of the strip as the premier commercial corridor is certainly over. Look at how disparate the economic future of the Festival Center is. See how Springdale Mall died and is now a glorified big box retail center. Continue further west and note large swaths of empty parking lots. Meanwhile drive on Schillinger Road and see all the newer shopping centers and how busy they are. This is why Mobile rushed to annex those, because their sales tax base kept shifting west to outside the city line.

You can't think of the economic market of Mobile without considering Wal-Mart. They are definitely the retail center of Mobile, and the chain has taken its toll on other retails markedly. There is now a Wal-Mart at Leroy Stevens and Cottage Hill Roads, an area previously reserved for just residential and small scale business (like Dollar General or Circle K) for instance. If they are not already, they need to assess impact fees to the retail giant, as their stores generate such a large amount of traffic (think of US 98 at Schillinger Road, Beltline Highway, Rangeline Road north of I-10, etc...).



Thinking about the Creola situation, access management is key, and I disagree with the Mayor in that having to U-turn to reach their Dollar General is unacceptable. Eliminating cross-traffic for U-turn lanes is a better way than opening up every stretch to a new at-grade, or even worse, a new traffic light. If things are that bad through Creola, a new expressway alignment to US 43 northward should be considered. There is land to the east that is vastly undeveloped.

Your assertion that the heydays of Airport Blvd. as the premier commercial corridor are over is ridiculous.  Two badly run shopping centers (Springdale and Festival Centre) do not qualify as justification of it.  One ride down the road will cause you to see that practically anything that faces Airport Blvd. is full.  Springdale has fallen off because of bad management (most small stores were the same ones found in Bel Air Mall, closed in malls are falling out of popularity in business, and back in the 90s when half of the mall was closed in order to expand the movie theater), not to mention the loss of Mobile native store Gayfers, which was why everyone went there in the first place.  Even since, the center has mostly maintained to fill most of itself that faced Airport Blvd.  Same with the Festival Centre, the only parts that have died are not facing the road.  They even managed to create a new strip of the center facing Airport Blvd. that is anchored by Guitar Center and almost immediately has filled all of its spaces.  

Your point about Schillinger Road retail simply ignores the fact that it exists soley because of an intersection with Airport Blvd.  It is an outgrowth of Airport Blvd. retail.  Airport Blvd. is swamped with retail from Sage Ave. all of the way to at least Schillinger and Snow Rd.  Growth didn't suddenly appear out west; it slowly grew further and further west out Airport Blvd. until it reached those areas and then spilled out onto their roads.  Most of these big intersections with Airport (Schillinger, Hillcrest, University) started with centers on each corner and spread up and down these roads that cross Airport.  Businesses then started to then trickle even further west on Airport Blvd.  Your point about Wal-Mart makes my point.  The most successful Wal-Mart's are attatched to Airport Blvd. intersections (behind Springdale and a location built in a lot located directly behind the original that faced Airport Blvd.  They even briefly considered building a location next to Providence Hospital.  There are at least 4 Starbucks and two locations of several restaurants and businesses along side this road.  No other new area in Mobile has even begun to come close to it.  That's why I say it is important to be careful to not be too radical in how we change this road because it is clearly the lifeblood of the city.

[Alex]

Your assertion that the heydays of Airport Blvd. as the premier commercial corridor are over is ridiculous.  Two badly run shopping centers (Springdale and Festival Centre) do not qualify as justification of it.  One ride down the road will cause you to see that practically anything that faces Airport Blvd. is full.  Springdale has fallen off because of bad management (most small stores were the same ones found in Bel Air Mall, closed in malls are falling out of popularity in business, and back in the 90s when half of the mall was closed in order to expand the movie theater), not to mention the loss of Mobile native store Gayfers, which was why everyone went there in the first place.  Even since, the center has mostly maintained to fill most of itself that faced Airport Blvd.  Same with the Festival Centre, the only parts that have died are not facing the road.  They even managed to create a new strip of the center facing Airport Blvd. that is anchored by Guitar Center and almost immediately has filled all of its spaces.  

Your point about Schillinger Road retail simply ignores the fact that it exists soley because of an intersection with Airport Blvd.  It is an outgrowth of Airport Blvd. retail.  Airport Blvd. is swamped with retail from Sage Ave. all of the way to at least Schillinger and Snow Rd.  Growth didn't suddenly appear out west; it slowly grew further and further west out Airport Blvd. until it reached those areas and then spilled out onto their roads.  Most of these big intersections with Airport (Schillinger, Hillcrest, University) started with centers on each corner and spread up and down these roads that cross Airport.  Businesses then started to then trickle even further west on Airport Blvd.  Your point about Wal-Mart makes my point.  The most successful Wal-Mart's are attatched to Airport Blvd. intersections (behind Springdale and a location built in a lot located directly behind the original that faced Airport Blvd.  They even briefly considered building a location next to Providence Hospital.  There are at least 4 Starbucks and two locations of several restaurants and businesses along side this road.  No other new area in Mobile has even begun to come close to it.  That's why I say it is important to be careful to not be too radical in how we change this road because it is clearly the lifeblood of the city.

Nice to see some interest in Mobile area road discussion for a change... While I appreciate your thoughts, I also think that your assessment of my assessment being ridiculous is a little over the top. This is a not a retail discussion thread though, so I will focus on your end point. East-west traffic has never been adequately addressed by the city of Mobile, ALDOT, Mobile County, etc. "Lifeblood" of the city or not, improvements on Airport Boulevard are not going to make much of a difference because of the poor design of the road and lack of cohesive development. The road was clogged in 1996 and is clogged now. It will always be clogged.//

[Alex]

Baldwin County 44 bridge reopens

FAIRHOPE, Alabama -- The Baldwin County Highway Department has completed the construction for the county road 44 bridge over Cowpen Creek and it is now open to public traffic.
baldwincounty.jpg

The original Baldwin County 44 Bridge was built in 1968 and was replaced due to multiple structural deficiencies, according to a news release from the Baldwin County Highway Department. Work began in January to repair the bridge for the safety of the residents who crossed it daily, the release stated.

The old bridge has now been replaced with a large culvert, which will save the county money on maintaining the structure. The new bridge will also help save much-needed travel time for the nearly 3,500 drivers whose vehicles cross the bridge daily to reach surrounding schools and subdivisions, according to the release.

Magnolia Springs studying ways to slow down Baldwin 49 traffic



Mobile drivers appear to adjust to 2-way traffic on St. Francis Street

It took time, but it appears that motorists are starting to get used to the two-way conversion of St. Francis Street in downtown Mobile.

The official conversion took place April 19, but cars continued to be towed away because drivers had parked them on the south side of the street.

[Alex]

Few show for meeting on how to improve traffic flow on Airport Boulevard

MOBILE, Alabama -- Despite some proposed alterations to Airport Boulevard that can only be described as radical, only a handful of residents showed Tuesday at a community involvement meeting meant to sound out local sentiment on how best to improve traffic on the street.

The meeting, held at Baker High School, was mostly informal, with traffic engineers set up in stations to explain the different options under consideration.

Those who did attend were largely positive about the offerings laid out by traffic engineers from Volkert and Associates Inc., the consulting firm that has been studying how to add capacity to Airport without taking up more right of way.

The consensus among traffic officials is that Airport Boulevard cannot practically be made any wider, so the challenge is to move traffic more efficiently in the lanes that are already there.

One of Volkert's plans calls for reconfiguring the major intersections between Snow Road and Sage Avenue so that, rather get stuck lengthy stop lights, the center lanes would pass over the cross streets unabated by way of short bridges.

Some of the reconfigurations have the potential to pit the interests of through traffic against those of commercial property owners, which have scuttled previous reform efforts.

Jennifer White, the city's traffic engineer, said that one commercial property owner came to the meeting, but he was more curious than angry.

David Webber, an executive with Volkert, said that he met previously with developers and commercial real-estate brokers in an effort to sell them on the idea.

They were largely receptive, he said. A second meeting is scheduled for Thursday at St. Pius X School and will run from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Under the best circumstances, White said, it would take more than three years before shovels hit the dirt, and that's assuming there was funding available. More likely it will take several more years just to find some money to get started, she said.

The public meetings, though, are the first step in the process, she said.

[Alex]

Road to Mobile this afternoon. A couple of notes:

Construction for "slide corrections" is still ongoing along Interstate 10 around milepost 60. Speed limits still 50, everyone still going 65-75...




She's Dead Jim. The last original button copy highway shield/sign combo in South Alabama is gone. Carbon copied with a Clearview-based sign. 

Five-laning of Old Shell Road from Schillinger Road east to Hillcrest Road is finally done. The configuration is identical to the Cottage Hill Road five-laning of the mid-2000s, complete with a french drain down the middle.

The now combined intersection of Alverson Road and McKinley Avenue with Old Shell Road is indeed signalized. All signals between Schillinger and Hillcrest Roads are supported on mast-arms.

[agentsteel53]

wait, by "carbon copied", you mean it still says Pascagoula!!??  Despite the fact that freeway I-10 never went there, and the temporary US-90 routing of I-10 stopped going there in 1972? 

gosh, even California doesn't put up "I-5 Bakersfield" signs anymore.

[Alex]

wait, by "carbon copied", you mean it still says Pascagoula!!??  Despite the fact that freeway I-10 never went there, and the temporary US-90 routing of I-10 stopped going there in 1972? 

gosh, even California doesn't put up "I-5 Bakersfield" signs anymore.

Yes, Pascagoula in crisp Clearview letters! It is up to Mississippi to request Alabama change their signs to Biloxi or Gulfport.

[Alex]

New four-lane Alabama 181 could open this week

DAPHNE, Alabama -- A four-lane widening of part of Ala. 181 that began two years ago could be finished within three weeks, if rains or other delays don't interfere, said Vince Calametti, director of the Mobile office of the Alabama Department of Transportation.

After opening up the four lanes to traffic late this week, crews will take another two weeks or so to finish work on shoulders and driveways then stripe the road, he said.

"It's a hot topic. I've gotten a lot of calls from people wanting to know when it will be completed,"  Calametti said last week.

The $12.7 million project – to widen a stretch of 181 from just south of U.S. 90 to Baldwin County 64 in Daphne to four lanes – began in June of 2009. The contractor, Mobile Asphalt Co., had two years to complete the work, beyond which the company would be fined $2,600 per day, said Matt Erikson, assistant division engineer.

Some officials originally predicted – optimistically – that it would be done by December 2010.

"They always had two years to do it, though,"  Erikson said.

Calametti said the final completion date has moved forward dozens of times due to rain and other weather conditions, so that the contractor "has not hit damages yet and they probably won't."

The project was originally to be the first of a larger planned three-phase undertaking to widen a 15-mile stretch of the highway – from U.S. 31 in Spanish Fort to U.S. 98 west of Weeks Bay – to four lanes.

A lack of state and federal highway funding has delayed the other two phases indefinitely, he said. The second phase – from Baldwin County 64 south to Ala. 104 in Fairhope – was originally scheduled to have begun at the start of this year. The third phase would have continued the project south to U.S. 98. In earlier interviews, transportation officials said the entire project was expected to cost about $62 million.