MOBILE RIVER BRIDGE AND BAYWAY PROJECT
Fact Sheet

After decades of work, the Mobile River Bridge and Bayway Project is moving forward. 

Through close coordination with the White House, the U.S. Department of Transportation, Governor Kay Ivey, the Alabama Department of Transportation, Alabama’s congressional delegation, and the Mobile and Eastern Shore Metropolitan Planning Organizations, the project is expected to break ground this year. 

This will be the largest infrastructure project in Alabama history and will provide meaningful traffic relief across the I-10 corridor.

PROJECT OVERVIEW

ALDOT has developed a revised approach to advance long-awaited Interstate 10 capacity improvements between Mobile and Baldwin counties. The revised plan maintains the project’s core goal: increasing traffic capacity and improving mobility across the Mobile River and Mobile Bay corridor while keeping costs and toll rates as low as possible. The goal is to break ground on full-scale construction by the end of the year.

REVISED PROJECT APPROACH

To reduce costs and maintain a viable path forward, ALDOT is moving forward with a phased project approach.

PHASE ONE

  • Construction of a new, six-lane cable-stayed Mobile River Bridge.
    • Utilizing the existing good condition of the Bayway by restriping it to provide six lanes of capacity across Mobile Bay.
    • Key interchange, intersection and traffic flow improvements in Mobile and Baldwin counties to support the new bridge and expanded Bayway capacity.

PHASE TWO

  • Construction of a new Bayway structure, to be paid for by toll revenue under existing toll rates. 

WHY THE PROJECT CHANGED

Over the past five years, the Mobile River Bridge and Bayway Project has faced significant financial and engineering challenges, including:

  • Significant nationwide construction inflation
    • Major increases in labor and material costs
    • Unexpected geotechnical and engineering challenges on the Bayway
    • Costly federal regulatory requirements

Updated engineering analysis revealed that constructing a completely new Bayway structure concurrently with the Mobile River Bridge would cost substantially more than originally anticipated, pushing the total project cost beyond a financially viable level. 

Phasing the project, alongside financial and procedural flexibility granted by the Trump Administration, will allow the project to move forward. This flexibility allows for the preservation of certain grant funds within a phased approach, reducing costs. 

Phase I construction costs are approximately $3.2 billion. 

FEDERAL SUPPORT

The project has received strong engagement and support from:

  • The White House
    • U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT)
    • Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)
    • Senator Tommy Tuberville
    • Senator Katie Britt
    • Congressman Shomari Figures
    • Congressman Barry Moore

Recent federal assistance and financing flexibility have helped keep the project viable.

STATE SUPPORT

Over the project’s life, ALDOT expects to invest several hundred million in state and federal funds reflecting the state’s commitment to Mobile and Baldwin counties and the coastal area. 

TOLLING

No tolls will be collected until the new bridge opens, currently projected for approximately 2031.

The previously-designated free routes of the causeway, the Wallace Tunnel, the Bankhead Tunnel, and the Africatown Bridge will remain free.

Toll rates have been designed to ensure reasonable costs for frequent users who choose to utilize the route. The proposal includes several tolling options for standard vehicles, listed below. Toll rates are well below current and anticipated inflation rates since the new toll structure was first announced in 2021.

  • $60 unlimited monthly commuter pass, which is roughly $1.36 per trip for daily users. 
  • $3 per-trip ALGO Pass rate.
  • $7.70 for users with interoperable transponders.
  • Drivers without a transponder will be billed through a pay-by-plate process. Those customers, largely expected to be out-of-state drivers, will then have the option to establish an ALGO pass account and pay the lower ALGO Pass rates. 
  • ALDOT anticipates that the overwhelming majority of local users will choose an ALGO Pass, another compatible transponder, or one of the available toll-free routes.

ALGO transponders will be widely available and free of charge initially.

All tolls collected from the project will be used to finance the project. 

KEY POINT

ALDOT believes this revised proposal represents the only viable path currently available to deliver meaningful traffic relief and additional interstate capacity across Mobile Bay. With continued strong support on the federal, state, and local levels, as well as the anticipated TIFIA loan later this year, construction can begin in 2026 with Phase I completion expected in 2031.