Trucking news and briefs for Thursday, May 27, 2021:
Alabama considers truck-only tolls in proposed new bridge
The Alabama Department of Transportation and local leaders in the Mobile, Alabama, area, are considering instituting truck-only tolls on a new proposed I-10 bridge over the Mobile River to ease congestion in the Wallace Tunnel in downtown Mobile.
The proposal calls for construction of a bridge over the Mobile River designated for the use of only large trucks over 46 feet long. These trucks would be prohibited from using the Wallace Tunnel and instead travel over the river on the truck bridge, paying a toll of no more than $15.
Construction of the truck bridge would also mean the signed hazardous cargo route would no longer have to pass through the Africatown community, and hazmat trucks would instead be able to use the new I-10 Mobile River Bridge.
The Alabama Department of Transportation and local planners in Mobile have proposed a bridge over the Mobile River intended for trucks only that would carry with it a $15 toll for trucks.
Alabama Trucking Association President and CEO Mark Colson said in a letter Wednesday to the Mobile Metropolitan Planning Organization and the South Alabama Regional Planning Commission that it supports efforts to relieve congestion in the I-10 Wallace Tunnel in Mobile but asked the groups to reconsider tolling only trucks using the bridge to help fund the project.
“According to local officials, Phase 1 of this project is estimated to cost $675 million with $125 million coming from the federal INFRA Grant, $250 million from state funding, and $300 million coming from bonded (borrowed) money to be repaid by placing a toll only on the trucking industry at $15 per trip,” Colson said. “In other words, the trucking industry is being asked to put up the same amount of money as the state and federal governments combined to initiate this project.”
