Mobile-Baldwin

[Alex]

Mobile's Michigan Avenue overpass closing today for repairs

MOBILE, Ala. -- The Michigan Avenue overpass above the CSX railroad tracks just north of the Brookley Industrial Complex is closing today for repairs.

The closure is expected to remain in place until October 2011, according to L&A Contracting Co., which is making the repairs that will be paid for with federal stimulus money, according to a news release from the city of Mobile. The cost is about $3.6 million. The overpass is 69 years old.

Truck and car traffic entering Brookley Industrial Complex will need to use the Broad-Duval exit on Interstate 10 east of Michigan Avenue, then go south into the complex.

Noncommercial and car traffic can also enter Brookley from Dauphin Island Parkway by going east on Military Road and north on Perimeter Road.

The closure will not affect the nearby Michigan Avenue viaduct over I-10.

[Alex]

Yet another case where old infrastructure must continue to perform with today's traffic... 

Proposed Mobile River bridge runs into strong opposition at community meeting

Preservationists, environmental conservationists and concerned neighbors raised vociferous opposition to a proposed 215-foot bridge over the Mobile River during a Tuesday community meeting.

The Alabama Department of Transportation, which says a bridge is necessary to relieve Interstate 10 congestion through the Wallace Tunnel, held the meeting at the Texas Street Community Center.

A similar meeting is scheduled for Thursday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Daphne Bayfront Park pavilion.

Input from community members will be included in the department's environmental impact statement.

Vince Calametti, division engineer for the Alabama Department of Transportation in Mobile, said that the input would be used to choose from one of four locations for the bridge. If opposition proves to be overwhelmingly against the bridge, he said, the project could be scrapped altogether.

Carol Hunter, a member of Save Mobile's Waterfront, a pressure group opposed to the bridge, said Mobile was being asked to swallow a blight-causing bridge so Eastern Shore residents could have an easier commute.

She questioned whether the traffic issues merited a $1 billion bridge investment.

I-10 through Mobile does not rank among the top 35 interstate bottlenecks in the country, a 2008 study conducted by the federal government found. Five other spots on I-10 elsewhere in the country did make the list.

"You don't destroy your city for a few hours of congestion a year,"  Hunter said. "The Interstate Highway system was not meant for commuter travel."

Federal money does not need to be spent solving what amounts to metro-area commute issue, she added.

Calametti said that the tunnel was originally built to handle about 50,000 cars per day but now handles about 80,000.

Service on I-10 near the tunnel is rated F, the second lowest rating possible, he said.

Officials have said a draft of the environmental impact study will be finished around the first of the year.

Carol Hunter needs to wake up and realize, the Interstate highway system is the main conduit for commuter traffic, its the way of the world! Clueless... 

[codyg1985]

Service on I-10 near the tunnel is rated F, the second lowest rating possible, he said.

I didn't know there was a rating lower than LOS F.

"The Interstate Highway system was not meant for commuter travel."  

Maybe it wasn't originally meant for that purpose, but that is what purpose it fills today.

I don't see how a bridge is going to take away from the riverfront. I think it would add to it, and it may also increase tourism if the bridge is designed to look nice. It will take up more land, yes, but if it it discourages riverfront development, then you may as well tear down all of I-10 through downtown since it would also be discouraging riverfront development. This is a crucial link that needs to happen.

[agentsteel53]

"The Interstate Highway system was not meant for commuter travel."  

then why all those damn three-digit routes that connect nothing to nowhere?

[jdb1234]

Service on I-10 near the tunnel is rated F, the second lowest rating possible, he said.

I didn't know there was a rating lower than LOS F.

That makes two of us.

[FLRoads]

Carol Hunter needs to wake up and realize, the Interstate highway system is the main conduit for commuter traffic, its the way of the world! Clueless...  

No, she's too busy sitting on Schillinger Road driving by herself in her big "gashole" vehicle, talking or texting on the cell phone (or both), sitting in the lemming queue lane twenty vehicles back in the turn lane waiting to get into Wal-Mart, thinking to herself, "oh, this is status-quo." Moron.

Don't you know that Interstate 10 does not just go to Eastern Shores, but stretches from across the country!!!

People like her really piss me off because 10-to-1 she never uses the Wallace Tunnel, or any other tunnel, and has no real concern about what Interstate 10 would do if indeed they were to build a bridge in that area to relieve the tunnel.

[froggie]

I didn't know there was a rating lower than LOS F.

Strictly per the HCM, there isn't.

But I know of at least one MPO that has created criteria for LOS G.....in layman's terms, just that much worse than F...

[florida]

Don't you know that Interstate 10 does not just go to Eastern Shores, but stretches from across the country!!!

Inquiring minds want to know if she's ever been to the Eastern Shores of Mobile Bay in the past decade, two or three. Or is she too busy blockading the bay?

Did she also complain about I-165?

[Alex]

Foley plans Beach Express signs

The title makes you think they are talking about trailblazers, but they are talking about adding service signs to the highway...

FOLEY, Ala. -- Travelers on the Foley Beach Express will soon see signs similar to notices on interstates advising what businesses and attractions are available just off the highway.

At intersections such as Baldwin County 20, vehicles going to and from Gulf Shores and Orange Beach pass to the east of Foley. Just as interstate signs inform travelers what restaurants, hotels and gasoline stations are available at particular exits, the express signs will be notices advertising Foley businesses, Jeff Rouzie, city director of economic development, said Tuesday.

"It's a way to give our businesses better exposure and let people know what's available,"  Rouzie said. "This is something that we've been discussing for a while and it's something we need to do for our businesses. I think it will be very helpful."

The City Council voted last monthto approve the signs. While the Beach Express provides an alternate route to and from the beach and relieves traffic in downtown, drivers on the highway may not be aware of the attractions in Foley, officials said during discussions. Rouzie said Foley officials are working with the Alabama Department of Transportation to determine the dimensions of the signs. State highway regulations may require that signs on roads such as the Beach Express be smaller than those on interstates, he said.

"We need to be sure the size fits the location,"  he said.

A business listing on a sign will cost $450 a year, Rouzie said.

Rouzie said the city does not have a date set for the signs to be in place, but that the markers should be going up soon.

"We're getting close to that process,"  he said Tuesday.

He said officials will start approaching businesses about purchasing listings as soon as they know the size and first locations for the signs.

Businesses to be advertised could include downtown shops and restaurants and retail centers such as the Tanger Outlet Center, according to Foley officials.

One primary location for the signs will be the intersection of Baldwin County 20 on the south side of Foley. Several businesses have opened or are now being built at the site.

Another location discussed during council work session talks on the plans is the intersection of U.S. 98. Rouzie said smaller signs could also be placed between the Foley Beach Express and Ala. 59 to direct drivers as they get closer to the business district while driving on U.S. 98 or Baldwin County 20.

[Alex]

Still no progress on a new I-10 bridge, but let us instead spend money on removing ramps to Water Street in a lame effort to deal with the curve into the Wallace Tunnel. Never mind the fact that despite a 55 mph speed limit, drivers tend to ride the brakes all the way down into the tunnel's base with consistency. Yesterday I was slowed to 37 mph through the tunnel eastbound and down to 45 westbound. But removing the Water Street ramps will speeds up, sure! 

Overhaul of I-10 interchange at Wallace Tunnel could start by 2012, officials say

MOBILE, Ala. -- A long-sought overhaul of the Interstate 10 interchange at the Wallace Tunnel in Mobile now has nearly $27 million of funding in place, and construction could begin as early as 2012, according to state highway officials.

The project aims to improve safety at the tunnel's eastbound entrance by eliminating the Water Street interchange, said Vince Calametti, the Alabama Department of Transportation's Mobile Division Engineer.

Frequent accidents at the mouth of the tunnel are caused by the shape of the eastbound onramp, he said.

The loop that connects Water Street to eastbound I-10 is so short that there is no room to safely accelerate onto the interstate, he said.

The new plan would move the interchange to Canal Street, where the on and off ramps would be constructed in a diamond formation rather than loops.

"We should see a much more efficient movement from Water Street to I-10,"  Calametti said.

The Downtown Mobile Alliance has been pushing to eliminate the Water Street ramps for years, saying they cut off the waterfront from the city's urban core, especially Fort Conde Village.

If the raised ramps were eliminated, the group has argued, Fort Conde Village would roughly double in size.

The revamped interchange was even written into the New Plan For Mobile, an urban development blueprint commissioned by Mayor Sam Jones shortly after he took office.

The idea never gained enough traction to draw funding, though, and was largely shelved until Calametti took over the Mobile Division in 2008, said Elizabeth Sanders, director of the Downtown Mobile Alliance.

Calametti said he liked the idea and eventually found $26.5 million in unused federal money that had been appropriated in the 1990s to straighten out the curve in I-10 as it goes into the tunnel.

The $26.5 million should cover the entire project, he said, although substantial preliminary work needs to be done before that can be said for certain.

He said he didn't know why the straightening project never happened, but the funding for it can be transferred to the interchange project because they both address the traffic issue at the eastbound entrance to the tunnel.

With money available, he said, construction could begin as early as 2012.

Tony Harris, a spokesman for the Department of Transportation, said officials want to begin engineering work on the project now because they are concerned that federal money might be taken away if it isn't spent soon.

Sanders called the newly revived project an example of what can happen when "you have a vision for what you want for your community, and you work together to make it happen."

One of the first steps in the process is amending the Mobile Metropolitan Planning Organization's transportation scheme to reflect the new project.

The organization, which has to sign off on federal highway projects, will meet Oct. 27 to discuss the matter. If approved, about $1.5 million would be allocated to immediately begin preliminary engineering.

Jones, who chairs the organization, said the project's green light has been a long time coming. "This is something that has plagued our community for some time,"  he said.

The organization has discussed the reconfigured interchange before. Some members are concerned that drivers would have trouble adjusting to the change, but Jones said he doubts that would be a problem.

A reconfigured interchange would not conflict with a proposed I-10 bridge over the Mobile River, Calametti said.

Funding for the bridge, which is expected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars, if not more, has yet to be appropriated.

[jdb1234]

Mobile County Roundabout Set to open Saturday:

http://blog.al.com/live/2010/10/mobile_county_roundabout_set_t.html

[Alex]

Mobile County Roundabout Set to open Saturday:

http://blog.al.com/live/2010/10/mobile_county_roundabout_set_t.html

I was wondering when the Grelot Road extension was to open. Went by there in August and it looked near completion...  

Funny enough, Baldwin County had roundabout news this week too:

Daphne roundabout nears completion

DAPHNE, Alabama -- Though officials hoped the project would be done by mid-September, work now is expected to be completed by Oct. 22 on the city's new roundabout at the intersection of Whispering Pines and Pollard roads.

Over the weekend, workers removed the four stop signs that had been erected six weeks ago, before construction began, at the circle's four entry points. The stop signs were replaced by yield signs, said Daphne Public Works Director Richard Johnson.

The four yield signs were ordered before construction began and just arrived last week, he said.

Using the stop signs was "the only solution to have it open when we didn't have the yield signs yet. We were treating it as basically a fancy four-way stop," Johnson said.

The stop signs were a source of frustration because they forced drivers to stop before entering the roundabout, interrupting the intersection's intended smooth flow and confusing those unaccustomed to such intersections, city officials said.

"Now, the roundabout can function the way it was intended," Johnson said.

The $282,000 roundabout is part of a $650,000 city project awarded this summer to M.C. Williams Contracting Co. of Mobile to resurface the section of Whispering Pines Road from Pollard Road to Baldwin County 13. The rest of the project is essentially complete, he said.

[Alex]

Spill delays Baldwin County's expressway extension plans

BAY MINETTE, Alabama -- Tourist traffic reduced by the oil spill will delay work to extend the Beach Express from Interstate 10 to I-65 by at least a year, County Engineer Cal Markert said Tuesday.

Addressing a work session of the Baldwin County Commission, Markert said a traffic study that had been planned for the summer would not reflect an accurate count of the average number of vehicles.

"The survey was scheduled to be in June 2010. The oil spill hampered and hurt beach-going traffic, which is part of what we needed to study. That was a critical path to getting the whole project done, so that cannot be done until we get that information."

The commission will vote Tuesday on an amendment to the contract with Wilber Smith Associates of Lisle, Ill., to extend the contract to Oct. 28, 2011.

"This will delay the I-10, I-65 extension by at least a year, maybe more if traffic doesn't get back to normal," Markert said. "Now they'll get started in June 2011."

The contract calls for a study of the amount of beach traffic in Baldwin County and for drivers to be surveyed about their opinions on a toll road extending from I-65 to I-10.

Commissioner Wayne Gruenloh said the delay will mean a loss of a year's tolls if the road is built. Commission Chairman Charles "Skip" Gruber said the postponement means that construction costs could increase before the project moves forward.

Commissioner Frank Burt asked Markert if county officials could estimate a financial cost to the delay. "Is there any way we could put a value on that and file a claim because that's directly related to BP?" Burt asked.

The commission voted in December to award a contract for up to $450,000 to Wilbur Smith to conduct the study.

[lamsalfl]

The Crescent City Connection enhances the skyline here.  Also, it's so high in the air that sunlight has no problem making it down below.  There are no shadow issues if you build it tall enough.  It's NOT the same as building a 20 foot tall elevated expressway through a city.  Under the bridge approach can be a park.  We have the convention center under the CCC here.  It works. 

[jdb1234]

Mobile's George Wallace Tunnel named top "chokepoint" in Alabama:

http://blog.al.com/live/2010/10/mobiles_george_wallace_tunnel.html#incart_hbx

[Alex]

Mobile's George Wallace Tunnel named top "chokepoint" in Alabama:

http://blog.al.com/live/2010/10/mobiles_george_wallace_tunnel.html#incart_hbx

Heh, I was going to post that article this morning, but ran out of time... 

The article mentions things said before, and nothing ever changes. They can widen Interstate 20 east from Birmingham to the state line, but cannot widen any stretch of Interstate 10... 

The bridge was first proposed in 1996 and has been met since with strong resistance from area business owners, residents and state leaders, who have yet to appropriate money for the project. Barton said, perhaps this study will help our leaders in D.C. see how much we need the bridge.

Will believe it when I see it, the ludicrous nature of statements like "a new bridge will cast a giant shadow over historic downtown" will continually doom this. 

The report also proposed "an outer highway loop on the western part of the region" to alleviate traffic along I-65 between Airport Boulevard and Spring Hill Avenue, which "carries 99,000 vehicles per day (and) experiences significant congestion each morning and early evening."

They had public meetings on the West Mobile Bypass in the early 2000s (I attended one). Developers are free to sprawl the forest and farm land of West Mobile, but the government is not allowed to construct a needed freeway. I do not see this dead proposal being brought back with any legitimate chance either. 

[Alex]

Took a drive through the new roundabout at Dawes Road, Grelot Road, and new Air Terminal Drive. The five-way roundabout includes a bypass lane for travelers headed north on Dawes Road to Grelot Road east. Found a document detailing the roundabout and the studies that went into it as well.



Air Terminal Drive southbound on the approach to the new roundabout with Dawes and Grelot Roads. Similar assemblies featuring cardinal direction banners meant for numbered routes were posted on other approaches. Grelot Road is planned to extend west to Snow Road (I don't think this is completed yet).



Within the roundabout, traveling toward the Grelot Road east turn. Note the bypass lane to the right.

[Alex]

If scummy county commissioners could not first succeed, they will try try again...
The public rightfully fought this road and it was dropped, but Baldwin County Commissioners decided to resurrect it in the hopes to again fund it. The main benefit of the road is the enhancement of developmental value of the Spanish Fort Town Center and the opening of forest land along the north side of Interstate 10 to more useless development. Gotta love local government that listens to its constituents... 

New Baldwin County Commission makes deep cuts, restarts service road project

In what became a heated discussion, commissioners voted to resurrect a project to build a service road that would connect Bass Pro Shops to a planned interchange on Interstate 10 at Baldwin County 13. The commission voted in April to kill the project under a firestorm of protest from area residents and environmentalists.

Dozens of residents from the Eastern Shore spoke against the project, saying it would lower their property values, do little to alleviate traffic on major roadways and would primarily serve to make millions for private developers.

Mayors from Daphne and Spanish Fort both spoke in favor of the road.

Commissioners said the 3-1 vote was not a guarantee that the project would happen, but rather just began the process of planning anew and would be a means of finding the cost of the project.

Burt cut short several speakers who were critical of the project and who said commissioners were favoring developers at taxpayer expense.

One vocal critic, attorney Tom O'Hara, asked commissioners why the public copy of the agenda included a line saying the commission would name the service road "Palumbo Road." Gus Palumbo, Daphne City Councilman, has been an outspoken opponent of the service road.

Assistant Administrator David Brewer said he made the error, passed it on to his staff and was responsible for the line in the public copy.

All the commissioners later apologized for the gaffe, and directed Brewer to make a public apology.

Reached by e-mail, Palumbo was less than forgiving, and said commissioners were to blame for the error and not Brewer.

"It's interesting that with all the problems facing Baldwin County," Palumbo wrote, "the first order of business set by the new commission was to name a road after a Daphne city councilman. I wonder how much of their back-door secret meeting time was taken up by resuscitating a road project already rejected by the previous commission as well as unanimous vote of the Daphne city council, to be paid for by millions of taxpayers' dollars for the benefit of their developer and construction pals."

Palumbo called the error "consistent with the mean-spirited lack of class and sophomoric behavior demonstrated by the new commission members since their election."

There were some moments when the lack of key personnel seemed to leave officials looking for information or procedural advice.

Burt said the members of the new board "plan a more transparent government" and was met with laughter from the audience. Burt scolded those present and threatened to have deputies remove some speakers he said were "out of order."

[Alex]

Daphne council rejects county revival of I-10 service road

DAPHNE, Alabama -- The City Council voted Monday to oppose an effort by newly elected Baldwin County commissioners to resurrect a project that would build a service road connecting Bass Pro Shops to a planned interchange on Interstate 10 at Baldwin County 13.

"If they go forward, they'll have to do it without the city's money," Councilman Gus Palumbo said in a Wednesday interview.

The council on Monday reaffirmed, though not unanimously this time, its April vote to withdraw the $1 million it had committed to funding the $8 million Baldwin County project. The commission also voted that month to kill the project under a firestorm of protest from area residents and environmentalists.

Newly elected Baldwin County commissioners are seeking to resurrect the project. During the commission's first meeting after the Nov. 2 elections, commissioners voted 3-1 to do so.

County staff members then sent a letter to the Daphne council requesting the city's financial support.

The council responded Monday by voting 6-1 to reaffirm its unanimous April vote to withdraw its support. Councilman Ron Scott cast the sole dissenting vote Monday.

Scott did so after requesting, and receiving, a two-minute recess during which he talked with City Attorney Jay Ross about whether he had a conflict of interest and should recuse himself from the service road vote.

Scott, who works as a technician for Baldwin County's Planning and Zoning Department, did not say why he might need to recuse himself. After the council meeting reconvened, Scott made a motion to table the service road item. The motion died for lack of a second endorsement.

The council then voted to support the resolution, with Scott the lone dissenter. The Register's efforts to contact Scott on Wednesday were unsuccessful.

The resolution stated that the city would not support the road project financially or in any other way, and urged that the County Commission abandon its efforts to revive it.

As an incentive to support the project, the Baldwin County Commission agreed, as part of the project, to dredge Lake Forest lake and install retention ponds and other runoff prevention devices to decrease siltation and other problems along D'Olive Creek. That dredge material would be used as fill for the road project.

During the public comments segment of Monday's meeting, several people spoke in opposition to the road project, including residents of the TimberCreek and Lake Forest subdivisions.

One of the speakers was John Steadman, dean of the University of South Alabama's College of Engineering. Steadman said that dredged materials are not suitable to create a roadbed.

"The overall project is ill-conceived and should not be funded," Steadman said.

Chester McConnell, a TimberCreek resident and vice president and conservation chairman for the Mobile Bay Audubon Society, said the proposed road would only make matters worse for the D'Olive Creek watershed, which is already massively eroded.

Developers said in 2007 that Mobile Infirmary planned to build a hospital on property along the route, which helped boost political support to build the service road.

The commission committed $3.1 million to the project, including $2.5 million in cash and $650,000 for design and environmental work. TimberCreek Land Co. and the development firm Cypress Equities each agreed to contribute $2 million while Daphne officials supported giving $1 million.

The road would connect Bass Pro Shops Drive to Woodrow Lane, which intersects Ala. 181 near the Eastern Shore Centre in Spanish Fort.

But the plans for the Mobile Infirmary hospital never materialized.

Then, in March, PGA golfer Rob Bradley bought four of the five properties that make up TimberCreek Golf Club's 240-acre golf course.

The other nine holes, the Magnolia Course near I-10, were not part of that deal. For that land, Bradley signed a 5-year lease.

The deal raised alarms for many TimberCreek residents, who assumed that TimberCreek Investments intended to develop the "lower nine" course commercially at some later date.

That led to an uprising by TimberCreek residents, who showed up by the hundreds at public meetings in April to press the commission and the Daphne City Council to withdraw their support for the service road project.

Both bodies did so. Daphne council members said their main reason for revoking their support is the fact that the Mobile Infirmary project – which had been at the center of the initial plan – is now off the table.

[Alps]

Daphne council rejects county revival of I-10 service road

DAPHNE, Alabama -- The City Council voted Monday to oppose an effort by newly elected Baldwin County commissioners to resurrect a project that would build a service road connecting Bass Pro Shops to a planned interchange on Interstate 10 at Baldwin County 13.

"If they go forward, they'll have to do it without the city's money," Councilman Gus Palumbo said in a Wednesday interview.

Usually this is something Bass Pro would fund.  Certainly in this part of the country where there is relative economic vibrancy (though in these times, hard to say that about anywhere).  Of course, this being more backwoods, Bass Pro figures that they can get other people to spend some money instead because they're bringing business somewhere it's needed.  I'm sure when push comes to shove, Bass Pro will cough up a few more bucks vs. giving up the location (but it will sure threaten).

[Alex]

It was originally slated to be a trumpet interchange, but I suspect its a diamond now with a dead end waiting the sprawl-inducing frontage road now...

Interstate 10 interchange work in Baldwin County to begin in one year

DAPHNE, Alabama – More than five years after construction was initially set to begin, work is now expected to start in November of next year on a $23 million Interstate 10 interchange between the Eastern Shore Centre and Bass Pro Shops in Spanish Fort.

Officials said federal funding for the interchange, and plans for construction, have not been hindered by the recent controversy over a proposed service road that would connect Bass Pro Shops Drive in Spanish Fort to Woodrow Lane, which intersects Ala. 181 near the Eastern Shore Centre.

"Our current set of plans were developed to include the service road, but our interchange doesn't hinge on the service road. We're still moving ahead," said Vince Calametti, head of the Alabama Department of Transportation's Mobile division.

Several pieces of property remain to be purchased where the proposed interchange will be built, Calametti said. The road plans also have not yet received a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, he said.

The Daphne City Council voted 6-1 last week to oppose an effort by newly elected Baldwin County commissioners to resurrect the service road. The council reaffirmed its April vote to withdraw the $1 million it had committed to funding the estimated $8 million Baldwin County project.

The former commission voted in April to kill the proposed road under a firestorm of protest from TimberCreek subdivision residents and environmentalists.

During the new commission's first meeting after the Nov. 2 elections, commissioners voted 3-1 to seek new cost estimates for the service road and to secure funding sources.

The service road will require a separate Corps of Engineers permit, which has not been applied for yet, said Baldwin County Engineer Cal Markert.

TimberCreek residents opposed to the service road said they will submit criticisms to try to prevent the Corps of Engineers from issuing a permit.

"That will be another way to try to block it," said Chester McConnell, a TimberCreek resident and vice president and conservation chairman for the Mobile Bay Audubon Society.

The road's construction will be a disaster for the D'Olive Creek watershed, which is already massively eroded, he said.

Markert said construction of the service road hopefully will begin within three months, after cost estimates and the corps permit are received. The absence of Daphne's $1 million commitment may not present much of an obstacle, he said.

According to the arrangement made in 2007, the County Commission committed $3.1 million to the road project; TimberCreek Land Co., $2 million; developer Cypress Equities, $2 million; and city of Daphne $1 million.

The commission has not committed to paying a larger share to complete the road. But that may not be necessary, depending on the cost estimates, county officials said.

Spanish Fort Mayor Joe Bonner said he and his City Council remain committed to the service road. For its own part, the city constructed Bass Pro Shops Drive right up to the city limits in 2007.

"We've already got the majority of the road built, but we can't pave anything outside our city limits," Bonner said.

Essentially, the entire holdup with the service road derives from the fact that its middle section, just south of TimberCreek subdivision, lies within the city limits of Daphne.

The road would connect Spanish Fort's two biggest retail areas – the Spanish Fort Town Center and the Eastern Shore Centre.

Daphne Mayor Fred Small has taken the opposite position to the majority of his council on the service road. He said the county's commitment to doing $700,000 in wetlands mitigation work within the D'Olive watershed is too good an opportunity to pass up.

Markert said wetlands in the D'Olive Creek watershed will be destroyed when the service road is built. That will require the county to either purchase credits in a mitigation bank, which will result in wetlands restoration somewhere in the United States, or to do mitigation locally.

Markert said the county would like to perform the mitigation work on D'Olive Creek, the same watershed the road construction would damage.

McConnell said it was "laughable" for the county to claim its promised streambed restoration would make up for the damage caused by construction.

[Alex]

Nevius Road extension to Hillcrest Road is open

MOBILE, Ala. -- The Nevius Road Connector that will allow motorists quicker access from Interstate 10 to west Mobile was scheduled to open at noon today, Mobile County officials said today.

The connector runs from Nevius Road to Hillcrest Road. County engineers said recently that it would be another three weeks before the road would be open because they were having difficulty getting the necessary safety striping. However, the amount of material needed was found, said John Murphy, assistant county engineer.
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There is some some finishing work that has to be done such a planting of permanent grass and removal of some excess dirt, Murphy said.

[Alex]

And I noted on the Baldwin County, AL GIS viewer that the right of way is now displayed. I will post a map from a geodatabase I am developing next.

Baldwin commissioners approve deal on Foley Beach Express extension

BAY MINETTE, Alabama – Baldwin County commissioners voted 3-1 Tuesday to approve a last-minute deal with state highway officials that secures funding for the $111 million Foley Beach Express Extension, but stops work on the Interstate 10 interchange at Baldwin County 13.

Commissioner Bob James voted against the agreement.

At the commission meeting, Chairman Frank Burt announced the details of the proposed deal with state transportation officials stemming from a Dec. 10 meeting. Commissioners said the plan would speed economic recovery for the area hard hit by the BP PLC oil disaster and enhance hurricane evacuation in the county.

Burt said he met with Gov. Bob Riley; U.S. Rep. Jo Bonner, R-Mobile; Baldwin County Probate Judge Tim Russell; and state Department of Transportation Director Joe McInnes and Assistant Director Don Vaughn. Local legislators were invited but unable to attend, Burt said. Local legislative services director Stephen Pryor attended the meeting in Mobile, Burt said.

"I was pleading for them to get the project moving," Burt said. "It has been so long, and is so needed to help get our economy recovering."

Burt said it was a matter of choosing the express as the county's priority project. Burt said he pushed for action, and a letter proposing a deal arrived late Monday.

The agreement secures funding for most of the cost of completing the Foley Beach Express extension to I-10. In exchange, however, the county would ask for work to cease on the Baldwin 13/I-10 interchange and for work to be delayed on widening Ala. 181 south of Ala. 104, he said, so money allotted to those projects could be shifted to the express extension.

The agreement will suspend work on a controversial service road that would have connected Bass Pro Shops to the Eastern Shore Centre near the TimberCreek subdivision. Commissioners said they would meet with legislators to try to find money to complete the interchange in the near future. Burt said Bonner mentioned the protested service road Dec. 10, including e-mails from many constituents opposing the road and talk of future legal action to stop it.

"I think this is good news for opponents of the service road as I can't see how they can justify building it now," said Ian Walters, a resident of TimberCreek and outspoken opponent of the service road.

A Fairhope area citizens group applauded the deal, along with Daphne Councilman Gus Palumbo and Daphne area resident Chester McConnell of the Mobile Bay Audubon Society.

"Creating the opportunity for better hurricane-evacuation traffic from south Baldwin County is certainly a much more fiscally sensible idea than building a service road that's clearly not needed," said Phil Brady of Citizens for Responsible Government, a citizen-formed government watchdog group.

James, whose commission district includes the Eastern Shore, said he believed the move to shut down the project was "intentional" and tried unsuccessfully to postpone a vote. Spanish Fort Mayor Joe Bonner said he didn't like the news, but understood the decision.

Burt said the proposal had to be approved prior to the new governor's administration taking office Jan. 17 to guarantee the shift in funding. Burt said the state's budget would be in dire shape next year and starting over with a new director would make securing the money a longshot.

Baldwin County Highway Director Cal Markert said the project's cost totals $87 million for road construction with another $24 million added for the interchange. Markert said the county will contribute a $600,000 match with a possible additional $2.5 million match depending on the actual bid prices.

[Alex]

And here is the path of the Baldwin Beach Express (a grab from a geodatabase I created). Not much different then what I expected, a few slight kinks in the right of way and an alignment that takes it across CR 64 west of the current end of CR 83. Click for larger:




The ALDOT letter to the Baldwin County Commission lists the project as CR-83 and outlines the funding elements and request to move money from the CR-13 interchange with Interstate 10 and the four-laning of AL-181 south of AL-104.

[froggie]

I'm presuming that, as with the Foley Beach Express (and Alabama in general), this highway would not have any sort of access control.