Planning groups approve Mobile River Truck Bridge plan

A week after the Mobile Metropolitan Planning Organization gave the Mobile River Truck Bridge on Interstate 10 the green light, the controversial project crossed another hurdle with the Eastern Shore Metropolitan Planning Organization.

On June 9, the Eastern Shore MPO passed Resolutions 2021-13 and 2021-14. The resolutions approve an amendment to its 2045 Long Range Transportation Plan and 2020-23 Transportation Improvement Plan. The amendments insert the Mobile River Truck Bridge into both the short- and long-term transportation plans for the area.

A solution to solve congestion issues in the area, the Mobile River Truck Bridge requires all trucks more than 46 feet to use the bridge and pay a $15 toll.

A bridge dedicated to large trucks will force them off the Wallace Tunnel, which is experiencing severe congestion.

In the original Eastern Shore MPO 2045 Long Range Transportation Plan, the Mobile River Truck Bridge was not factored in. Now that the amendments have been approved, the following proposals for the bridge and Bayway projects are within the plan:

• Phase 1: I-10 Mobile River Bridge from Exit 24 (Broad Street) to Mobile County line ($44.5 million for preliminary engineering and $665 million for construction).
• Phase 2: I-10 Mobile River Bridge (second span), including West Tunnel Interchange improvements ($500 million for construction).
• Phase 3: I-10 Bayway replacement, including East Tunnel, Mid-Bay and U.S. 90/98 interchanges ($1.2 billion for construction).

With approval from both affected MPOs, the Mobile River Truck Bridge project now moves to the Alabama Department of Transportation.

ALDOT is expected to conduct several studies, including ones investigating possible tolling scenarios. Also, transportation officials can now seek federal and state funding with the projects officially in the books.

Estimated to cost $675 million, the truck-only bridge will be funded with $125 million in federal funding in addition to $250 million from the state. However, the remaining $300 million would be funded with borrowed money. In this case, that would be repaid by a truck-only toll. In the future, passenger vehicles would be able to use the bridge and pay more than $2 for the toll. OOIDA is opposed to truck-only tolls. LL