US Representative Bradley Byrne has called upon ALDOT to pause plans to build a toll bridge across the Mobile River and Mobile Bay. Rep. Byrne did not call for the bridge plans to be scrapped altogether but recommended more time for citizens’ to be heard. There has been fierce opposition to the new bridge being tolled.
Rep. Byrne made the comments following a town hall event in Grand Bay. His position is in contrast to Alabama Governor Kay Ivey, who wrote in an op-ed this weekend on al.com that efforts to slow down the bridge would be unwise.
The latest plans from ALDOT call for a new bridge to be built over the Mobile River. This bridge would alleviate congestion caused by the Wallace Tunnel. The plan also calls for a new bayway to be built across Mobile Bay. The new bayway would have more lanes and better able to withstand powerful hurricanes. The old bayway would be torn down.
The large size of this project comes with a large price tag: over $2 billion. ALDOT has argued that there is not enough federal and state funding to complete the project and that it can not be completed without a toll. The initial estimate of the toll for a one way trip across the entire bridge and bayway is $6. Fees could bring the total closer to $9.
The idea of tolling the bayway has caused a massive uproar locally. A Facebook group opposing the toll led by State Auditor Jim Zeigler has gained nearly 48,000 members in just a few months. Both Byrne and Zeigler have challenged ALDOT’s position that the bridge can not be built without a toll, and have even laid out alternatives on numerous occasions.
Byrne is running for the Republican nomination for the US Senate, the winner of which will face Senator Doug Jones in next fall’s general election.