While traffic is at a standstill on Interstate 10 between the Wallace Tunnel and Spanish Fort, there has been some slight movement on a new I-10 bridge between the points on opposite sides of the Mobile Bay.
One proposal that has been offered by officials is a route that would include a truck bridge.
During an interview that aired on FM Talk 106.5 in Mobile, Fairhope Mayor Sherry Sullivan was tepid about the possibility of a truck route, which she called a “starting point.”
“Obviously, I sit on the policy board for the Eastern Shore [Metropolitan Planning Organization],” she said. “Councilmember [Jack] Burrell is the chair of that, so there is a lot of conversation around it. You know, I don’t think the truck route is the perfect plan. But I do think it’s a starting point for getting that back on the [Transportation Improvement Plan] for us to be able to start having discussions about how we can move forward on that project. I sat in traffic this weekend coming back from Mobile. We all know we need a bridge. It’s just what that bridge looks like.”
“So, I think the Eastern Shore MPO, collectively, is happy to put it back on the TIP to start dialogue, but I think everybody knows that it needs to be a bridge, not only for trucks but passenger cars also,” Sullivan added. “I’m hoping everybody can start digging into this and find funding and find a plan that will be inclusive for all types of transportation.”
Sullivan said she expected a small toll on any newly constructed bridge but argued the existing legacy route needed to be maintained.
“I think part of the reason they started looking at that is because of the amount of truck traffic that we see,” she said. “And obviously, a lot of the accidents on the Bayway that slow people down are caused by truck traffic. I still think that you’re going to have that. And again, you’re right — it’s only a band-aid, and we need to look at the bigger picture and have something that passenger cars are able to use, and trucks are able to use, as long as we maintain those legacy routes. Obviously, there’s going to be a toll. We don’t know what that toll is going to look like right now. I think it’s going to be a small toll. But I do think as a passenger vehicle, if you choose to use the bridge, you will pay a toll. But we will maintain those legacy routes.”
@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University and the University of South Alabama, the editor of Breitbart TV, a columnist for Mobile’s Lagniappe Weekly, and host of Mobile’s “The Jeff Poor Show” from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. on FM Talk 106.5.
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