The Interstate 10 Mobile River Bridge and Bayway project, which the Alabama Department of Transportation was proposing to partially pay for with a toll, is “dead,” according to Governor Kay Ivey.
The governor’s declaration came immediately after the Eastern Shore Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) met on Wednesday to vote on its Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP), which establishes the area’s transportation priorities from 2020 to 2023.
During the meeting, the Eastern Shore MPO in a 8-1 vote chose to strip the controversial project from the TIP, saying they could always amend the TIP to add the project back in if a suitable, no-toll option was proposed instead.
“With the action taken today, there is no pathway forward, and this project is dead,” Ivey said in a statement.
She also advised that the planned public meeting on the topic in Montgomery is no longer needed due to the newfound status of the project — or non-project.
“Moreover, without a project, there is no need for a meeting on October 7. I am thereby cancelling the Toll Road, Bridge and Tunnel Authority meeting,” Ivey concluded.
You can watch Wednesday’s entire Eastern Shore MPO meeting here.
Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
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