Earlier this week, State Sen. Chris Elliott (R-Daphne) announced he had no interest in having discussions about a new I-10 Mobile Bay bridge until Gov. Kay Ivey and Alabama Department of Transportation director John Cooper were out of office given the way the 2019 toll bridge saga unfolded, which was canceled after the Eastern Shore Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) removed the project from its Transportation Improvement Program (TIP).
According to Elliott, that was the last line of defense against what appeared to be an unpopular effort by the Ivey administration to construct a bridge that would have incorporated a toll through a public-private partnership.
Friday, during an appearance on Mobile radio’s FM Talk 106.5, U.S. Rep.-elect Jerry Carl (R-Mobile) weighed in on the Eastern Shore MPO’s effort to revive the project and cautioned Elliott on taking such a stand on working with the Ivey administration.
“Every time I cross the bridge, and I get stuck in traffic, I think about those of us that made a decision to push against the tolls, which I think was the right decision at that time,” he said. “But we’ve got to do something. We’re talking about not just the commercial side of that bridge but also us civilians going to and from work, shopping, beach — so on, and so forth. So, we’ve got to do something on the bridge. Now tolling is obviously off the table. But we’re going to do something.”
Carl urged Elliott not to rule out working with Ivey over “personal opinions” and said the focus should be on getting a solution on the bridge project.
“You know, I heard what my friend Chris Elliott said,” Carl continued. “Chris is a dear friend of mine, and he and I agree and disagree on a lot of things. But, you know, we can’t allow our opinions — and politics is like business. When you start allowing your personal opinions to spill over into your job, that’s when you start making some poor choices. And working with the governor or working with her staff — we don’t have an option.”
“Now I heard the argument you don’t trust them — well, that’s what the MPOs are for. They’re the check and balance system. It worked for us last time. So, why would it not work this time? I mean, it is a check and balance system. All the elected officials that sit on those MPOs — they did the job of shutting it down. Ultimately, they are the ones that shut it down on the Eastern Shore.”
“If the Eastern Shore wants to put it back together and bring it back up and talk to the governor about it — I say hoorah,” he added. “Let’s move on. Let’s see what we can actually do. Let’s see what the options are because doing nothing and waiting four years, waiting six years, or waiting whatever length of time until we have this administration replaced — I totally disagree with. Again, we work with a lot of people that we don’t care a lot for. I’m sure there are a lot of people that work with us that don’t care for us, too. But that’s just the daily way of doing business. And the governor — it has been a tough road, and we’ll all agree with that on this bridge project. But there have been so many parts that have truly been the big problem. Everyone that crosses that bridge that gets stuck is going to be thinking of our names. I’ll assure you that.”
@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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