The new I-10 Bayway Bridge needs a new name. What you got? I’ll go first
This is an opinion cartoon.
Great news! The Mobile River Bridge, the I-10 Bayway project, is finally, really hopefully gonna happen.
The plan calls for a new, 215-foot cable-stay bridge over Mobile River that will connect to a new, six-lane Bayway that will end on the Eastern Shore. The new Bayway will replace the old Bayway, which will be demolished. The 3-hour delays, the endless bottleneck stuff is coming to an end, y’all. Soon-ish.
Thanks to a $550 million grant from the Biden administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal.
Name that bridge: The new Bayway Bridge – Hallelujah! – should get a new name. Whatcha got?
I’ll go first.
This new version of the I-10 Mobile River Bayway Bridge – if it happens – should be named after the folks who finally made it happen, right?
The new name should be the ‘Biden Buttigieg Bayway Bridge.’ The BBBB. The I-10 4B.
Related: Fact Sheet: The Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal | The White House
The gateway from Florida to New Orleans is the Mobile 4B. Rolls right off the tongue, right? Instant classic name for this celebrated new bridge that’s been a long time comin’.
Related: Britt, Ivey, federal officials to celebrate $550 million I-10 Bayway grant – al.com
“What a great day for south Alabama!,” tweeted Rep. Jerry Carl, who represents the Mobile district where the project is centered. “This project is now one huge step closer to reality, and I’m proud of all the work Team Alabama has accomplished together.”
Jerry Carl voted against the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill.
“Proud to announce that the Mobile River Bridge and Bayway Project will be receiving a $550 million grant from the Department of Transportation. This is a HUGE WIN for Mobile, the state of Alabama, and the entire Southeast region,” tweeted Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala.
Tuberville voted against the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill.
Rep. Barry Moore, R-Enterprise, called the funding “a major victory for Alabama!”
Moore voted against the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill.
“Tuberville, Moore and Carl were all “no” votes on the bipartisan infrastructure bill that paved the way for the U.S. Department of Transportation Bridge Investment Program grant that will go toward the estimated $3.5 billion I-10 project. Now retired Sen. Richard Shelby voted against the bill, as did Reps. Robert Aderholt, Gary Palmer, and Mike Rogers.”
“U.S. Sen. Katie Britt was not a senator at the time the upper chamber voted on the bill but said in 2021 she would have been a “firm ‘no’” on the bill had she been in Washington. “
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I’ve been pondering this new bridge thing for 24 years. I was hired by the Mobile Press-Register in 2000, and one of the first editorial board meetings I sat in on was with a group of city leaders who were sure they had the right game plan for the Holy Grail – a new Mobile River Bay Bridge. Maybe with a bike lane!
We’ve had several moments of hope since then, but all the new bridges were snuffed out by one thing or another. Mostly stubborn politics. I’ll believe we have an awesome new bridge when I fly my bicycle across it and land in Bienville Square on Joe Cain Day.
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JD Crowe is the cartoonist for Alabama Media Group and AL.com. He won the RFK Human Rights Award for Editorial Cartoons in 2020. In 2018, he was awarded the Rex Babin Memorial Award for local and state cartoons by the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists. Follow JD on Facebook, Twitter @Crowejam and Instagram @JDCrowepix. Give him a holler @jdcrowe@al.com.
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