Supporters, opponents address proposed new beach bridge in Baldwin County
Transportation officials in Alabama have gotten plenty of opinions, pro and con, to consider on a proposed bridge to improve access to the state’s beaches. The department of transportation heard from 28 people in Gulf Shores on two proposals for a road and bridge project that’s expected to cost between $56 million and $61 million, news outlets reported. City leaders in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach also testified in favor of the project, saying it would help evacuate the beaches during hurricanes. “You cannot get on or off the island during any kind of catastrophic event,” said Orange Beach City Councilman Jerry Johnson. Gulf Shores public works director Mark Ackerman pointed out one of the existing bridges was closed for more than a day because of a barge collision in 2014. Thursday’s hearing comes just weeks after Hurricane Michael slammed ashore on the nearby Florida’s Panhandle as a Category 4 storm killing 45 people. The Alabama DOT is accepting public comments for the rest of the month. It plans to decide on a plan early next year. “We want to improve community connectivity, said Vincent Calametti, Southwest Region Engineer for the transportation department. Supporters say a new bridge would improve congestion that clogs roads heading to the beach during peak travel months. More than 6 million people visit the state’s beaches each year. Opponents say it’s a waste of money and should not be a top priority for transportation funds. They say the project might not get tourists to and from the beaches any faster, calling it a “Bridge2Nowhere.” Other opponents say the Mobile area has more important needs, including the widening of U.S. 98. Some residents living near the proposed bridge site are worried about noise and the appearance in the neighborhood. Republished with permission from the Associated Press.
Better late than never: ALDOT to hold public hearing on Bridge to Nowhere
In what may be a turning point for a highly controversial bridge project, the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) has announced the first project-specific public hearing on a proposed bridge to the beach in Baldwin County. The bridge at hand is the proposed connector from SR-180 to Foley Beach Express Bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway. It will run between Orange Beach and Gulf Shores, Ala. ALDOT is inviting anyone in the Southwest Region (Mobile area) interested in the new bridge to the public hearing on Thursday, Nov. 15 at the Gulf Shores Activity Center. There, they will get a chance to ask questions, make comments, and may review project information and exhibits on display. The bridge debate One one hand is those who are pro-bridge. This group includes several local mayors like Orange Beach Mayor Tony Kennon, Transportation Director at ALDOT John Cooper, as well as the Gulf Shores/Orange Beach Tourism board. According to their website, the tourism board operates “With 34 full-time and 11 part-time employees, the CVB has a $10.46 million budget, which is funded by a 2 percent lodging tax.” The board came under fire last year for starting what some residents called a misleading petition campaign over the bridge. In a Change.org petition to garner support for the new bridge. At the time of publishing, it had garnered the signatures of 5,508 supporters. Opponents of the bridge pointed out that the language included in the petition was at best misleading if not an outright lie. They explain their side saying: Going to the beach has become an all day affair and that’s just the drive time. We can do something about it if we stand together. By signing this petition we can tell the elected officials along the Gulf Coast that we need better ingress and egress to Pleasure Island on the Gulf Coast. A new bridge, with no tolls, will allow more traffic to come across the island and it will reduce traffic flow on our major highways. In a lawsuit against the state testimony confirmed that no studies have ever been conducted to determine the need or impact of an additional bridge. Local residents question any assertion that states that it will “reduce traffic flow” noting that it will put more traffic on Canal Road which is already an area of significant congestion. Meanwhile, those against the beach bridge have amassed in a Facebook group called “End the #Bridge2Nowhere.” They believe $87 million state-funded bridge project is a misguided attempt by ALDOT and specifically John Cooper to curry favor with local politicians while solving no problems and potentially causing more harm to locals through both increased traffic congestion, noise pollution and damage to local property owners through the states use of eminent domain to seize houses and land. ALDOT’s lack of transparency about this project has come under fire from many including local residents, State Auditor Jim Zeigler, Alabama Today’s own Apryl Marie Fogel, and most recently State Senate candidate Jason Fisher. Details and official notice below. If you are not able to make it residents can also send comments by November 30, 2018 to: Email: swinfo@dot.state.al.us Fax: (251) 473-3624 Mail: Vincent E. Calametti, P.E. Region Engineer, Southwest Region ATTN: Edwin L. Perry III, P.E. Alabama Department of Transportation 1701 I-65 West Service Road N Mobile, Alabama 36618 View the invitation Southwest Region residents received to the public hearing below:
Governor Kay Ivey needs to stop John Cooper’s #Bridge2Nowhere
Is John Cooper, the director of Alabama Department of Transportation, building a costly and unnecessary “Bridge to Nowhere?” As a Magic 8-ball would say, “All signs point to yes.” That’s the bottom line of multiple critics, according to an AL.com article this weekend. The story cites a legal filing filed by the owners of the Foley Beach Express, the toll-bridge built and maintained through a private-public partnership, who are fighting the state’s use of eminent domain to take their property for what would be a new bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway. It also, highlights local opposition to the bridge from residents, many who have joined a Facebook group “End the #Bridge2Nowhere,” which started in 2016 when the bridge was first proposed before being rejected. Their concerns rang from questions about its cost, the use of eminent domain and ultimately how they say it would disrupt rather than help local traffic. I’m not a lawyer, but I read the filing (and you can too, it’s linked here) it’s hard to believe some of the explosive new information it contains hasn’t gotten more attention. More politics as usual coming from Montgomery. Exactly what one has come to expect from a Robert Bentley appointee who’s department was used as a hammer by the former-Governor himself in an attempt to get the legislature to raise taxes. None of what it says is good news for taxpayers. First, we are told a new bridge is necessary to alleviate traffic congestion in the coastal communities of Orange Beach and Gulf Shores. Yet the filing states that ALDOT Director John Cooper has explicitly said that a new bridge is unnecessary to address traffic concerns. Second, Cooper has stated that he is pushing for the new bridge solely because he does not like the deal that was struck when the Foley Beach Express was constructed. Orange Beach Mayor Tony Kennon has echoed this sentiment publicly, saying that after a new bridge is constructed, “I hope they (the owners of the Beach Express) go bankrupt.” Well that’s one way to get the free ride you were hoping for Mayor. Wait, it’s going to cost how much? See next point. Maybe that “free ride” isn’t free after all. Third, ALDOT is unable to justify the cost, with an absurd price range of $30 – $87 million, by providing any traffic studies or data pointing to the need for another bridge. Cooper appears to have made his decision that he wants a bridge, regardless of what impact it will have on traffic or the local economy, and is retroactively going through the process of securing approval. ALDOT is running into problems, though: Just this week, two committees of the Florida-Alabama Transportation Planning Organization voted to table a plan to build the bridge. Their reasoning, per sources in the room: “the lack of traffic study information…as well as the lack of an environmental impact statement for the project.” You know the basics usually involved in big projects that aren’t being rushed and pushed down the throats of everyone involved. Cooper was subpoenaed to testify about these discrepancies, but ALDOT filed a motion to dismiss the subpoena so he wouldn’t have to defend his quest for what seems to be an unnecessary expense approaching 100 million taxpayer dollars. Long story short: There is no defense for the defensible. Local government agencies are now catching on to what Mr. Cooper has known all along. Cooper is using the power vested in him by Bentley, then maintained by Governor Kay Ivey when she took over, and is pulling out all the stops to put a private company out of business. All the while failing to do anything about actual traffic congestion or infrastructure concerns. And it’s not clear that the governor is on board – she recently gave approval in writing for a transportation plan in Baldwin County that included no mention of this bridge. The BP spending documents also don’t mention the project specifically. Transportation and transparency clearly don’t go together under Director Cooper’s watch. Why does it matter if this bridge is built and what can we do to stop it? First, it matters because this is a blatant waste of valuable infrastructure money at a time where safety and the growth of the economy is on the line. How can we trust ALDOT to oversee the construction of a new bridge over Mobile Bay, when the agency clearly doesn’t have the state’s best interests in mind? How can we be expected to support new I-10 construction when our leaders can’t justify a single penny of an unnecessary bridge to the beach? Let’s work together and make sure our elected officials know that we want better: Stop the bridge to nowhere. Stop the waste of money. Stop the use of eminent domain. Stop the games and do what’s right for the state.
Proposed new Baldwin County beach bridge spurs lawsuits, public activism
The battle over bridges continues in Baldwin County where an $87 million state-funded bridge project is being blamed for wasting taxpayer funds and diverting much-needed state resources away from other critical state infrastructure projects. Under fire is Director John Cooper of the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) for his plans to build a new bridge connecting the Foley Beach Express to Canal Road in Orange Beach. On one side of the argument is the Baldwin County Bridge Company (BCBC) a subsidiary of American Roads LLC, the company that was brought in as a private-public partnership to build and operate the Foley Beach Express — a toll bridge as an alternative to Highway 59. The toll was intended to save travelers time and money. Rather than sitting in congested traffic and waiting for over 25 stop lights on the highway, the Foley Beach Express allows drivers to cruise to the beach, all the while bringing in much-needed funds for local infrastructure improvement. In support of the bridge, “We have to be able to move traffic., we’ve got to be able to evacuate and we have to be able to grow,” Orange Beach Mayor Tony Kennon told AL.com. “One bridge with a toll does not help us do that.” Kennon has long been an active critic of the toll road, going on the record hoping the owners previous financial troubles would mean the city could buy the bridge at a low cost. Last summer, to help satisfy frustrations American Roads unveiled their “Beach Express, GO!” initiative, which included lowering tolls throughout the summer, and even “lifting” the tolls during peak congestion times around concerts and widely attended events as part of their first steps in a comprehensive plan to work with the state and community to provide the safest and most efficient service to those headed to or from the beach this summer and beyond. And after a year of debate, local officials last August settled on widening the existing Foley Beach Express bridge with a third lane that will be reversible depending on traffic needs rather than building a third bridge to help ease congestion. But ultimately negotiations broke down when ALDOT requested that the BCBC give the city of Orange Beach the bridge at no cost. Thus, plans for the additional bridge resurfaced. Which is why the BCBC has filed a complaint against the State of Alabama. Filed on April 2, the BCBC is objecting the ALDOT’S petition to “unjustifiably” take BCBC’s property “by eminent domain.” Outside push-back Some Baldwin County residents are pushing back against the bridge as well. A 600-plus member Facebook group dubbed the Bridge2Nowhere says it has opposed the project since it was first suggested in 2015. The group’s leader, a 25 year resident of the Gulf Shores/Orange Beach area, Joseph Emerson believes people are being misled to think the bridge is a necessary solution to the traffic congestion. The group is actively opposed to the use of eminent domain to take land and properties the state will need for this bridge. Emerson is active on Facebook debunking rumors and myths about the additional bridge and pushing back against DOT and the Mayor’s justifications. “I keep seeing interviews of people saying, ‘We need a bridge because the traffic is so bad.’ PEOPLE! THINK!,” Emerson posted. “Without a north/south access to the beach… traffic will be compounded not alleviated. This bridge project is not a solution!” ALDOT has not responded to Alabama Today for comment.
