Randy Harper loads up his RV every year before Carnival in Mobile begins and parks underneath Interstate 10 for multiple weeks of food, family gatherings, fellowship, and fun.

It’s a Mobile Mardi Gras tradition with a murky future: Harper and the 100-plus campers underneath the interstate are being told the end is near for RV City.

Mardi Gras concludes with Fat Tuesday today, and RV City officially closes for the year on Saturday.

After a 23-year run, the question now looms: Could this be RV City’s final closure?

“I don’t know about the revenue flow, and I don’t know how much we bring into the city or what it’s worth for them,” said Harper, 71, of Pensacola, Florida. “But for the enjoyment of us here, it’s well worth it.”

Final year?

RV City, the 119-space makeshift campsite underneath I-10 and bordered by Water, Canal and Jackson streets, is poised to be a staging ground for construction crews during the forthcoming Interstate 10 Mobile River Bridge and Bayway project.

The project’s construction is scheduled to begin early next year, at which time the grounds utilized for RV City are set to be occupied.

If that occurs, the campers will not have the same place to go to during Mardi Gras since RV City first opened in 2000.

Further, the future looks cloudy for a return of RV City once the interstate project is completed. The site of RV City is expected to become green space, or possibly a park, once the new bridge is built. Future plans do not call for the area reopening as an RV park.

For now, the campers enjoying the final days of Mardi Gras are skeptical. They said they have heard about its pending closure before.

RV City’s fate has been in flux for years, even before the I-10 project loomed. Campers were told in 2015, for instance, to prepare for its pending closure.

“Everyone thinks that every year is the last year,” said Kolbi Wright, 36, of Mobile, who has ventured out with her family to camp at RV City during Mardi Gras for the past five years.

James Gordon, a spokesman for the Alabama Department of Transportation’s Southwest Region in Mobile, said the state informed Mobile city officials that “this will be the last year for Mardi Gras” in which RV City can operate.

“We expect to break ground around this time next year for the bridge,” Gordon said.

Of course, Gordon noted, plans can change, and they have before on the massive interstate bridge and bayway project. A previous version of the I-10 project was supposed to begin in 2019, but that was halted amid political blowback over a proposed $6 one-way toll, and a public-private partnership arrangement for the project’s ownership and financing.

“We know how projects are and there could be a delay and it might be April (2024),” Gordon said, referring to the possibility that RV City could have another Mardi Gras remaining. “But we do hope to (break ground) in January and February. If for some reason there is a delay, (RV City) can be used again. It’s a year-to-year thing.”

Ending a tradition

Eliminating RV City is viewed as a necessity as the state prepares to press forward with the newest $2.7 billion I-10 project that features a 210-foot-tall bridge over the Mobile River.

The interstate exit leading motorists to the new bridge will be located south of RV City.

The newest project also includes a 7.5-mile elevated I-10 Bayway connecting downtown Mobile to Daphne.

Tolls will remain on the new project, at $2.50 for a one-way pass if a motorist purchases an ALGO Pass. It’s unclear how much the pass will cost. Without an ALGO Pass, the toll fee is $5.50 for a one-way trip over the new infrastructure. The Wallace Tunnel, Africatown Bridge and the Spanish Fort Causeway will remain free routes.

ALDOT has a goal of finishing the project by 2028.

Omaha-based Kiewit Infrastructure is in negotiations with ALDOT on a joint venture team to oversee the design and construction of the bridge over the Mobile River. A separate design-build contract will be rewarded later this spring on the Bayway portion of the project.

“We’ve given the city a notice that … more than likely, this will be the last year,” Gordon said.

Laura Sullivan, 55, and Beth Phillips, 51, both sisters from Mobile, hope the city is preparing for an alternative if this is – in fact – the final year for RV City. For 20-plus years, family and friends have flocked to their campground during Mardi Gras for social gatherings.

“That’s what I tell my people, come hang out,” said Phillips. “It’s a tradition here.”

Demanding alternatives

While the property is owned by the state, the city helps maintain it and the two government agencies evenly split the revenues from the leases. In prior years, RV City would be jammed with almost 200 vehicles. But in recent years, the spaces have widened – giving campers more room – so now there are 119 available.

The fee to lease a space for the Mardi Gras season is between $400 to $450. Sullivan said she believes the RVs bring in enough revenue to validate the city’s interest in maintaining a site for them. As she said, there is no additional costs for running water or electricity to RV City. Campers also rent their own portable toilets during the Mardi Gras season.

“This is good revenue for the city,” Sullivan said.

Jason Johnson, a spokesman with the city of Mobile, said that city officials have not identified an alternative location for RV City, but added “we are open to ideas and suggestions on ways we could help accommodate RVs during Mardi Gras in the future.”

There are no RV parks in the immediate vicinity of downtown Mobile. Campers can be spotted parked at lots spread through the downtown area during Carnival season.

Wright said she anticipates the city offering more public parking through downtown to accommodate the vehicles.

“We hope so,” she said. “It’s easier with kids. There is somewhere for them to nap and somewhere to go eat.”

Harper said he hopes to be back to RV City again next year. If not, he will be return to Mobile for Mardi Gras, even it means parking somewhere else.

“I would like to think they are looking (for an alternative RV location) already,” Harper said. “As long as I am able to come down here, and (they have a lot), I’ll use it and I’ll be here.”