Interstate 10 is getting millions of dollars in federal funding, but it won’t be money coming to Alabama.

It’s going to Mississippi.

The U.S. Department of Transportation, in an announcement in January, awarded $60 million in Mega Grant funding for widening the interstate from four lanes to six west of Diamondhead, Mississippi — about 81 miles to the west of Mobile. An additional $150 million is going toward building a new I-10 bridge over the Calcasieu River in Louisiana.

But none of the Mega Grant funds are going toward the $2.7 billion I-10 Mobile River Bridge and Bayway project, despite hopes from state officials that the Mega Grant funds would support a project heavily leveraged with bonding.

The Alabama Department of Transportation applied for $500 million from the Mega Grant program that was created through President Joe Biden’s administration through the bipartisan infrastructure package Congress approved in 2021.

An ALDOT official said on Tuesday that despite not receiving a grant reward, the project “is financially viable and will continue to move forward” consistent with a framework unveiled in 2021.

“In working with the U.S. Department of Transportation, we believe that they understand the national importance and significance of this project and that we are well positioned to compete for these highly sought-after funds,” said Tony Harris, spokesman with ALDOT.

He added, “ALDOT will continue to work with the U.S. DOT on future funding opportunities when they become available in 2023.”

The Department of Transportation received around $30 billion worth of applications for the first $1 billion in Mega Grants that were rewarded, according to The Associated Press. Another $1 billion is available each for the next four years before the funding runs out, so ALDOT officials will be able to reapply.

Aside from the two I-10 projects, only seven other projects were rewarded money through the Mega Grant program. The largest award to a single project was $292.2 million to support the construction of a new rail tunnel beneath the Hudson River between New York and New Jersey.

ALDOT officials could glean some about a future grant for their I-10 project. According to DOT’s grant reward announcement, the “goal” of the $60 million allocation in Mississippi is “to improve access to locations across the Mississippi Gulf Coast and major southern cities including New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Houston and Mobile, Alabama.”

The grant setback is not anticipated to alter the I-10 Mobile River Bridge project that is highlighted with a new 215-foot-tall cable-stayed bridge over the Mobile River south of downtown, and a newly constructed Bayway connecting 7.5 miles between Mobile and Daphne.

The project will be financed largely through bonding, $250 million in state funding and a $125 million through the federal Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) Act awarded to ALDOT in 2019.

A federal $300 million loan will be repaid for through tolling.

The toll plan remains the same. It is expected cost $2.50 or less for passenger vehicle owners who purchase an ALGO Pass to take the newly built Bayway and Bridge over the Mobile River. An unlimited trip option will be available for $40.

Those without an ALGO Pass will pay $5.50 per trip.

ALDOT has said there will be no tolling assessed on existing routes like the Wallace and Bankhead tunnels, the Africatown USA Bridge, and the Spanish Fort Causeway.

ALDOT anticipates the project constructed by 2028.

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