Thirty years after it was first discussed, the Interstate 10 Mobile River Bridge and Bayway project is finally moving toward construction — and Alabama’s congressional delegation says President Trump’s administration deserves the credit for getting it across the finish line.
Alabama Department of Transportation officials announced this week that construction on the $3.2 billion project will start this year, making it among the most expensive infrastructure undertakings in state history. The announcement follows a breakthrough described by U.S. Senators Katie Britt and Tommy Tuberville in an AL.com op-ed, in which the two Alabama Republicans credited President Trump, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Governor Kay Ivey with clearing the bureaucratic obstacles that had stalled the project for decades.
“Thanks to his leadership, we can inform the people of Alabama that the Mobile River Bridge and Bayway project is finally moving toward construction after 30 years of discussion, delay and doubt,” Britt and Tuberville wrote.
A federal breakthrough
According to the senators, the Trump administration made three key moves to push the long-delayed project over the finish line. First, the White House selected the Mobile River Bridge and Bayway as the first project in the country to qualify for the Interstate System Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Pilot Program, giving Alabama new flexibility to use toll revenue to help finance construction. Second, the administration cut red tape surrounding the previously awarded $550 million federal Bridge Investment Program grant, allowing the state to access those funds more quickly. Third, federal officials stripped unnecessary bureaucratic requirements from the project’s scope — a move the senators say will save hundreds of millions of dollars.
“He knows infrastructure is about building roads and bridges that serve the American people, not funding wish lists that just make projects more expensive and harder to complete,” Britt and Tuberville wrote of the president. “So, his administration is stepping in, cutting through red tape and helping Alabama clear the final obstacles standing in the way of this transformational project.”
The senators framed the announcement as the product of years of coordination between Alabama’s congressional delegation, local leaders in Mobile and Baldwin counties, Governor Ivey, ALDOT and Secretary Duffy’s team — with, they say, Trump’s direct involvement throughout. Britt has pushed the project from her seat on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development, meeting repeatedly with Duffy and twice leading the full Alabama delegation in formal letters of support.
“Alabama is ready to build this bridge,” the senators wrote. “The finish line is now in sight and President Donald J. Trump, state officials and the local MPOs deserve enormous credit for getting us here.”
Financing and tolls
ALDOT says the $3.2 billion project will be funded through a combination of sources: a $125 million federal Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) grant, the $550 million Bridge Investment Program grant, a federal Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loan, bonds, and a direct state investment of $250-$300 million. The TIFIA loan, still pending federal approval, would finance up to 49 percent of the project’s cost.
Motorists will pay tolls slightly higher than the rates local officials had previously approved. Frequent commuters between Mobile and Daphne who use an ALGO Pass will pay $3 per one-way trip, with a monthly unlimited-use rate of $60 for the Bayway — up from the $40 proposed in 2021. Drivers without an ALGO Pass or an interoperable regional or national transponder will pay $7.70 per trip.
A phased approach
Facing years of rising construction costs, ALDOT is now splitting the project into two phases rather than building a new Bayway and bridge simultaneously. The agency’s fact sheet notes that building both at once would have pushed the total cost beyond a financially viable level. State leaders are aiming to break ground later this year, pending final approval of the TIFIA loan, with the first phase targeted for completion by 2031.
As part of the work, ALDOT will restripe the existing Bayway to allow six lanes of traffic across Mobile Bay and will improve interchanges, intersections and traffic flow throughout Mobile and Baldwin counties.
Britt and Tuberville said more details will be released in the coming weeks as final pieces of the financing package come together, and both senators said they look forward to inviting President Trump to a groundbreaking ceremony in Mobile.
Joshua Vaughn and Ford Boswell contributed to this story.
