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The Eastern Shore Metropolitan Planning Organization voted to remove the Interstate 10 Mobile River Bridge and Bayway project from its short term plan today. The decision meant the project would not be eligible for federal funds to help pay for it. Governor Kay Ivey declared the project dead moments after the vote.
The Eastern Shore MPO’s decision comes a week after Mobile’s MPO voted to table the project until after an October 7th meeting of the toll authority. Baldwin County officials decided to make a much stronger statement and did so in an 8-1 vote.
The decision to remove the project from their short term plan is the culmination of months of opposition to the project. The prospect of a $6 toll just to cross the bay had locals fuming. A Facebook group created in opposition to the toll gathered 54,000 followers in just a few months.
Officials in Mobile and Baldwin County have voiced support for a scaled-back bridge that does not have a toll. Most residents in the coastal counties seem to favor that approach as well. A bridge to alleviate congestion caused by the Wallace Tunnel would have been a welcome addition to our roadways.
What was originally an $800 million project to build a bridge over the Mobile River ballooned into a $2.1 billion project to build a bridge and replace the bayway. Many questioned why the bayway project was tied in with the river bridge. ALDOT cited federal regulations in defending its plan to replace the bayway, but skeptics believe it was a ploy to raise the price of the project and force a toll on motorists.