Alabama had already spent almost $60 million on a south Alabama toll bridge project before the governor pronounced the project “dead.”
Alabama Department of Transportation spokesman Tony Harris says the department spent about $40 million since 1997 on alignment studies, preliminary engineering and other costs. He says the state also spent another $19.6 million to buy land for the bridge.
The proposed bridge across Mobile Bay would have had tolls of up to $6.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey last week pronounced the project “dead.” The pronouncement came after the Eastern Shore Metropolitan Planning Organization removed the bridge from the area’s transportation plan. The project must be in the plan detailing the region’s transportation priorities to qualify for federal funding.
Harris says it was too early to speculate about next steps.
Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
