This report is from a trip to a public meeting on the proposed West Alabama Freeway on October 18, 2006.
A 'public involvement meeting', as ALDOT calls them.
Over the past couple days (and through a Google search, across the western part
of the state over the past month), ALDOT and their consultants on the West
Alabama Freeway have been holding meetings in the Mobile area, gathering input
for what is right now a corridor study for the West Alabama Freeway, the
long-proposed freeway to run from Mobile to the Muscle Shoals area. Tonight's
meeting was in Semmes (along US 98 northwest of Mobile).
Right now, they're looking at general corridors, ranging from about 1 mile to
upwards of 10 miles wide. There are anywhere from 2 to 4 subcorridors snaking
north-south, with various interconnecting options as well. All corridor begin on
the north end at US 72 or ALT US 72, and end on the south end at I-10.
Starting on the north end, 2 of the corridors begin on US 72 near Barton (west
of Muscle Shoals), with a third beginning on ALT US 72 near Leighton. There's a
NE-SW crossover corridor just north of Littleville. One corridor passes west of
Hackleburg while the other two pass between Hackleburg and Bear Creek. All
corridors pass east of Hamilton, though one only by about 4-5 miles.
Further south, one corridor goes near Beaverton (on US 278), one near Gu-win,
and a third east of Winfield. Two of the corridors cross US 82 between Reform
and Gordo. A third crosses US 82 just east of Gordo. There are 4 potential
I-20/59 crossing points: near (N of) Boligee, near (N of) Eutaw, near (S of)
Knoxille, and near (S of) Fosters. This last one is the closest any of the
corridors get to Tuscaloosa.
South of I-20/59, there are generally two larger corridors, one on each side of
the Tombigbee and Black Warrior Rivers. The western corridor crosses the
Tombigbee northwest of Demopolis, passes near the western US 80/AL 28 junction,
passes near Butler, goes east of Silas (US 84/AL 17 junction), goes west of
Chatom, passes near or west of Citronelle, and could take any potential location
between the Mississippi line and Schillinger Rd through western Mobile County.
The eastern corridor south of I-20/59 crosses the Black Warrior River south of
Fosters, goes west of Greensboro, goes near the US 80/AL 69 junction, passes
near or south of Lindon, goes west of Sweet Water (on AL 10 west of US 43),
crosses US 84 somewhere in a wide swath between Coffeeville and Zimco, crosses
US 43 northeast of Jackson, crosses the Alabama River near Gainestown (word is
that a bridge has been proposed here for some time), crosses I-65 somewhere
between AL 287 and Perdido, and ends at I-10 somewhere northeast of Loxley. One
of the ALDOT engineers mentioned that one option is to tie it directly into the
proposed Foley Beach Express extension to I-10.
There are three cross-options between these two southern corridors. One is
NW-SE from northwest of Demopolis to south of Linden. The second is NW-SE
from east of Gilmertown (on AL 17, north of US 84) to south of Zimco. The third
is NE-SW from south of Zimco to north of Citronelle.
A few other notes:
- Several people at the meeting were against what they saw as a reincarnation of
the proposed "West Mobile Bypass", a proposed freeway-grade facility from I-10
to US 98 in western Mobile County. They are especially opposed to any
routing that would impact the creeks flowing into Big Creek Lake, which supplies
much of the area's drinking water. Talked to one in particular who apparently
was pretty active in getting the bypass shelved. Interestingly, while they're
generally against a north-south freeway, they support the proposed new-location
US 98 (which will bypass Wilmer and part of Semmes to the north), although one
made the comment that the proposed routing should have been further north.
- At least 3 of the ALDOT representatives commented that the primary goal of
this "West Alabama Freeway" is 'economic development' in depressed portions of
the state. I don't disagree that many of the western AL counties have fallen on
hard times, but IMO 'economic development' is *NOT* a valid justification for
spending scarce transportation dollars on such a project. I made note of such on
my comment sheet too.
- Along those lines, I also put on my comment sheet that completing the 4-laning
of US 43 through the state, plus incorporating access management along US 43,
would meet the objectives of the project at much less cost.
- A rough figure quoted for the cost of the project was in the $6-7 BILLION
range.
- Commented about the lack of a potential corridor along US 43. When I
first heard about the project, I envisioned such a freeway beginning on I-65 in
the Satsuma/Creola area, then running north along or parallel to US 43. Added
that to my comment sheet as well and mentioned it to one of the ALDOT
representatives, who actually pondered it.
- Also asked about the extreme lack of project information in general on ALDOT's
website. Got the response that the I-85 Extension project is their test-bed for
putting project information online, and the results of that test will dictate
whether ALDOT uses the web for other projects.
- In light of some of the conversation at the table I was standing at, I also
asked about the nonexistence of access management concepts within Alabama. Was
impressed that several ALDOT representatives have realized what the lack of
access management and driveway limitation/consolidation has done to the state's
highways. Whether this results on a proactive access management program in
Alabama remains to be seen.
Packed up and headed home at this point.
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(C) 2007, Adam Froehlig