It’s been another summer of backed up traffic on Interstate 10 approaching the Wallace Tunnel, and a Bayway transformed into a massive parking lot whenever a crash occurs.

The interstate averages more than 78,000 vehicles per day west of the Wallace Tunnel in downtown Mobile, and worries continue to mount over a future in which more than 95,000 vehicles will be traveling along the interstate within 20 years.

“Every day along Government Street and I-10, we see the need for a long-term solution to our traffic congestion, particularly during these peak travel months,” Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson said.

‘Progressing on schedule’

But despite years of frustrations and setbacks, state and local officials are moving forward in assembling teams to oversee an estimated $2.7 billion project. The overall project is highlighted by a new six-lane, 215-foot-tall cable-stay bridge in downtown Mobile that connects to an elevated and expanded new Bayway. The six-lane Bayway will run 7.4 miles and will connect Mobile to Daphne.

The first of the physical evidence of the years-long construction project could come next week. Omaha-based Kiewit Corporation, which is part of the design-build team for construction work mostly in Mobile County, is expected to have geotechnical drill rigs in place in Mobile. This type of work is aimed at investigating the physical properties, like the soil, that construction crews will build on.

“We are very excited to see this critically important regional project progressing on schedule,” Stimpson said in a statement to AL.com. “I know residents on both sides of Mobile Bay will be encouraged to see us taking another step forward.”

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The Alabama Department of Transportation has the design-build teams in place and are splitting the project into two segments. Both construction projects will occur concurrently. They are split at about the Mobile/Baldwin County line.

Negotiations between ALDOT and the teams involved in the project are still ongoing, and neither project’s contracts – including the price-tags — have been finalized.

Details, so far, include:

• Project 1 consists of the cable-stay bridge over the Mobile River and will also include I-10 interchange improvements at Broad and Virginia streets, and the West Tunnel (Canal/Water Street) interchange. The design-builder for this project is via a joint venture with Kiewit, Massaman Construction Co., and Traylor Brothers Inc. – or KMT. All three firms are U.S.-based, according to Tony Harris, spokesman for ALDOT. The team also includes numerous local firms such as Volkert, Jordan Pile Driving, McInnis Construction and H.O. Weaver & Sons.
• Project 2 is centered around Baldwin County and includes replacement of the 50-year-old Bayway with a new structure that will be elevated approximately 12 feet higher than the current interstate. The project will add additional capacity and provide resiliency from storms as well as interchange improvements at the Midbay interchange and the U.S. 98 interchange in Daphne, according to Harris. The project’s team, which was assembled last month, consists of Colorado-based Flatiron Construction and Lane Construction of Ocean Springs, Mississippi. The team is being referred to as Mobile Bay Constructors (MBC), and Harris said their plan is to utilize a “significant number” of locally based subcontractors.

Harris calls the firming up of the design-build teams a “significant step,” noting that both will be responsible for the project’s construction.

“It’s a really big deal,” said Jack Burrell, a Fairhope City Councilman and chairman of the Eastern Shore Metropolitan Planning Organization’s policy committee. “I don’t have any reason to believe they won’t get them under contract. There is some surveying and geotechnical work that will be done in the next few weeks. It all points to what we’re hoping to break ground on by the end of the year, and probably at the latest, early next year.”

‘Mega’ financing

The biggest issue remains with financing, and going after grants that could help reduce the borrowing that will be needed to build it.

ALDOT is hopeful that a U.S. Department of Transportation “Mega Grant” will offer an opportunity to reduce the project’s financing that will be offset with toll revenues.

As proposed, the motorists will be assessed a $5.50 toll if they have not secured an ALGO Pass. If they do have the pass, the toll rate will be $2.50 for a one-trip over the new infrastructure only. A $40 monthly discount will also be available.

Existing infrastructure – Wallace and Bankhead tunnels and the Spanish Fort Causeway – remain untolled.

The Eastern Shore MPO gave ALDOT the go-ahead on Wednesday to pursue a Mega grant to offset the project’s massive price tag. The application deadline is August 21.

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The application comes about eight months after the U.S. DOT awarded $1 billion in initial Mega grant funding to only nine projects nationwide. There were more than 130 applications, including a $500 million request from ALDOT for the I-10 project.

Despite not receiving any grant money, the I-10 project was categorized as one of 13 projects eligible for “project-specific targeted technical assistance” from the U.S. DOT’s Build American Bureau.

That announcement has elevated the hopes of local officials that future Mega grant funding rounds might provide some funding for the I-10 project. For the next four years, the U.S. DOT – through the bipartisan infrastructure package passed by Congress in 2021 – will provide $1 billion each year for Mega grant recipients.

Harris, with ALDOT, said the state has been working with senior staff at the U.S. DOT “since the Mobile River Bridge and Bayway was named a project of distinction” after last year’s Mega grant application process.

Harris said the federal agency has provided them with technical guidance and assistance about the I-10 project and with the application the state is submitting next month.

Even without a grant, the project is deemed “financially viable,” though it will be heavily leveraged through borrowing. Revenues from the tolls will be utilized to pay a lion share of the borrowing costs.

The entire project, without receiving additional grants, relies heavily on financing that includes $1.2 billion through bonding and another $1.1 billion through federal loans under the Transportation Infrastructure Financing and Innovation Act (TIFIA).

The project has limited dedicated funds. In 2019, a $125 million federal grant was secured through former U.S. Senator Richard Shelby’s office. Another $250 million is dedicated through state funding.