The people's voice of reason
The people's voice of reason
The $3.2 billion bridge will be tall enough so that even the tallest ships can pass underneath it.
June 9, 2026 – MOBILE, Ala. – The Alabama Department of Transportation has resurrected its defunct Mobile River Bridge and Bayway Project. This has long been a favored project of the Kay Ivey administration and Alabama Port officials who claim that building the elevated bridge on I-10 connecting Mobile and Baldwin Counties is an essential piece of infrastructure.
A previous version of the bridge – the tallest suspension bridge in the world – failed when residents revolted over the high cost of the tolls. This time the Alabama Department of Transportation the Mobile Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) and the Eastern Shore Metropolitan Planning Organization have all announced their support for a revised project approach that will cost motorists as much as $7.70 per trip across the massively tall six-lane cable-stayed bridge.
The cost of the bridge is estimated to be a staggering $3.2 billion – before any work actually begins on this project. ALDOT is blaming higher material and labor costs for the soaring costs. When ALDOT first proposed this project, the cost was estimated to be $800 million. $3.2 billion is nearly equal to the entire state of Alabama general fund.
Like her west Alabama four lane project, this has long been a priority for Governor Kay Ivey (R).
"This project is essential to Alabama's future and represents one of the most important infrastructure investments in our state's history," Gov. Kay Ivey said in a statement. "This transformative project will strengthen our economy, improve safety and ensure we are better prepared in times of emergency."
ALDOT claims that construction to begin before the end of 2026, pending anticipated approval of a federal Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loan.
Project supporters claim that this revised approach preserves the project's primary goal of increasing I-10 capacity across Mobile Bay.
This is much less ambitious that the last ALDOT proposal which included replacing the entire existing Bayway and raising it.
ALDOT claims that they can financially afford to build this using a two-phase plan that will also deliver meaningful traffic improvements sooner.
ALDOT claims that phase one will include construction of a new six-lane cable-stayed bridge, restriping the existing Bayway to provide six lanes of traffic across Mobile Bay, and improvements to major interchanges, intersections and traffic flow throughout the corridor in Mobile and Baldwin counties. Phase one will cost $3.2 billion by itself.
Phase two would include: construction of a new Bayway structure as additional funding becomes available, with future toll revenue helping finance the project. Phase two – if it is every built – would cost an unknown amount and would not begin (if ever) until the 2030s.
Originally ALDOT said that it could not build the new bridge without building the new Bayway at the same time. ALDOT credits recent federal actions increased flexibility in the use of funding, addressed regulatory requirements and supported financing mechanisms needed to advance construction.
This proposal – unlike the last one – does not toll the existing tunnels.
No tolls will be collected until the new Mobile River Bridge is opened in 2031 (at the earliest). Existing toll-free routes, including the Wallace Tunnel, Bankhead Tunnel, Causeway and Africatown Bridge, will remain free.
The proposed toll options for standard vehicles include:
$60 unlimited monthly commuter pass (about $1.36 per trip for daily commuters)
$3 per trip with an ALGO Pass
$7.70 per trip using a compatible interoperable transponder
Pay-by-plate billing for drivers without a transponder
ALGO transponders are expected to be available free of charge during the initial rollout.
If this is built - the Mobile River Bridge and Bayway Project will be the most expensive transportation infrastructure project in Alabama history.
Critics question if this project is even really needed, are concerned that the tolls will be a burden on Alabama motorists, and are worried that committing to this massive project will mean that ALDOT will be tying up limited state transportation dollars for the next decade preventing other more pressing needs, like widening I-65 or building the Northern Beltway in Jefferson County from ever being completed.
ALDOT and the Ivey administration claims that building the Mobile River Bridge will improve traffic flow along I-10, enhance freight movement through the Port of Mobile, strengthen regional connectivity and improve hurricane evacuation capabilities along the I-10 corridor.
A previous version of this project failed when thousands of residents joined the Block the Tolls Facebook group and lobbied lawmakers to oppose building a toll bridge on what is currently a free interstate.
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