WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala, is urging the Department of Transportation to help Alabama move the I-10 Mobile River Bridge and Bayway Project toward the construction phase.
On Monday, Britt, who sits on the Senate Appropriations Committee, sent a letter to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to “stress the importance” of completing the massive infrastructure project.
“…this is a large and complex project, but importantly, it is the largest shovel-ready infrastructure project in the country,” the letter reads. “Advancing it would be a significant milestone in President Trump’s commitment to improving American infrastructure.”
Last year, the Transportation Department announced it would release a $550 million federal grant awarded to the project in 2024. Also at that time, the Alabama Department of Transportation said Kiewit Massman Traylor would oversee the project, which was previously chosen to design and build the cable-stayed bridge portion of the project.
“After years of work on engineering, design, and financing, the project has reached a critical point of inflection before it can progress to construction and completion,” Britt writes.
Alabama’s junior senator asked for Duffy to assist with removing obstacles that will allow the state to begin construction on the bridge. She specifically asked for DOT personnel to meet with state leaders to assist with determining the next steps toward completing the project.
The Alabama Department of Transportation had hoped to hold a groundbreaking ceremony for the bridge before the end of 2025, but that did not come to fruition. According to an October statement from the department, as reported by WPMI, ADLOT hopes to be in a “position to move forward” sometime this year.
The bridge is set to connect I-10 from Mobile to the eastern shore of Baldwin County. The project’s steep costs have made it a challenge to advance to the construction phase.