Gulf Shores begins road reconfiguration for $24 million pedestrian bridge: removes ‘bad corner’
The closure of Alabama State Route 180 at the 90-degree turn near Tacky Jack’s. The detour from the dangerous curve is indefinite. The city is also building a pedestrian bridge soon at the same location.user submitted photo
The tricky 90-degree turn along a state highway in Gulf Shores is no more, and it’s not coming back thanks to a future $24 million pedestrian bridge.
The City of Gulf Shores closed a portion of Alabama State Route 180 on Monday in anticipation of the project’s construction commencing soon. A detour was set up that moves northbound Orange Beach traffic along East 22nd Avenue to East 3rd Street before connecting back to State Route 180 – otherwise referred to as Canal Road.
“That 90-degree corner is no more,” said Grant Brown, a city spokesperson.
Permanent solution
A map of a new detour of Alabama State Route 180 in Gulf Shores.City of Gulf Shores
It’s not coming back ever again. Brown said that even after the pedestrian bridge is built, Route 180 will be permanently reconfigured, so traffic is not slowing down for the sharp curve northeast of Tacky Jack’s restaurant.
“Just last year, there were two fatal accidents on that corner, and a number of accidents (with injuries),” said Brown. “It’s a bad corner.”
James Gordon, a spokesperson with the Alabama Department of Transportation’s Southwest Region, said the state agency is working with Gulf Shores officials to determine the best long-term solution for traffic flow through the area.
“A permanent solution is under discussion and could include construction of a new bypass road at a location yet to be determine,” Gordon said.
New bridge
A rendering of the pedestrian bridge in Gulf Shores, Ala. The bridge is budgeted to cost around $24 million and will be located adjacent to Alabama State Route 180 and Tacky Jack’s over the Intracoastal Waterway. The bridge must have a height of at least 70 feet.Rendering supplied by the City of Gulf Shores
The corner will soon be the site of a massive construction project, and one that is unique to the area.
A new pedestrian bridge spanning 75 feet above the water will be constructed over the next two years. Northport-based Harrison Construction Co. will construct it, and the completion is set for the end of 2026.
The bridge will be large and strong, designed to withstand Category 5 hurricane-strength winds of 157 mph or greater.
It is also expected to add a somewhat iconic structure to the city’s Waterway Village. The entertainment area includes restaurants like Tacky Jack’s, Acme Oyster House and Big Beach Brewing. The bridge will be connected one side of the district to the northern end that includes Lulu’s.
When it is completed, the bridge will have a stair and elevator towers on both the north and south ends. Each stairwell has 144 stairs. Each tower also has freight-sized elevators large enough to accommodate at least three bicyclists and three people at once. The project also includes two plazas on each side of the bridge, parking and streetscape improvements on both sides.
Officials say the pedestrian bridge is needed because the bike and walking path along the W.C. Holmes Bridge (Alabama State Route 59) is being removed and replaced with an additional vehicular lane.
To restore access for walkers and bikers, city officials decided to build a new pedestrian bridge. Officials have said that building an additional lane on the Holmes bridge would have been a daunting challenge for a structure that already carries 17 million motorists annually, and which was built in the 1970s.
The pedestrian bridge is part of the city’s overall project to widen Route 59. It is being financed partially through a U.S. Department of Transportation BUILD grant. The additional lanes are aimed at alleviating congestion into Gulf Shores, particularly during popular spring and summer travel season when tourists flock to the beaches.
The city got $14.4 million in the federal grant to assist in building the additional third vehicular lane on Route 59. The Route 59 project began in August 2023 and includes adding a third lane from the Target shopping center at Cypress Bend Drive south over to the Holmes Bridge and to Fort Morgan Road. A stretch between the bridge and Fort Morgan Road is under construction and is expected to be wrapped up by Memorial Day weekend.
Gulf Shores city officials have said that building a pedestrian bridge was part of a requirement in order to receive federal funding for the Route 59 project.
Volkert Inc. is the project’s designers. The bridge’s initial price tag came in around $47 million – nearly double the city’s budget for it. Volkert went back to the drawing board and produced a newer and slimmed-down alternative made of prefabricated materials that dropped the costs down to $24 million.