Mobile River Bridge Starts Construction October 1, 2026
By Rick McCann
Blue RAM Media/Gulf Coast News
September 22, 2026
MOBILE, Ala. After years of waiting, the big bridge project will begin in just weeks, not years.
For many it’s exciting while for others, not so much.
Either way, now that financing for the project has been approved, the work will begin almost immediately.
As of last week, the Alabama Toll Road, Bridge and Tunnel Authority has completed the bond and federal loan financing necessary to fully fund the $3.2 billion Phase One construction of the Mobile River Bridge and Bayway Project.
This financing now signals a milestone and sets in motion the building of the bridge.
As with building any structure, financing must be secured before the work can get underway and now with the financing in place including a Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loan of $2.52 billion through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Build America Bureau, along with bonds successfully marketed to investors this month, work should be underway at any time.
The Phase One construction cost includes a new six-lane cable-stayed bridge across the Mobile River and six lanes of capacity across the existing Bayway.
“President Trump and Secretary Duffy are once again proving this Administration is dedicated to making generational change across the country, and this major infrastructure investment in Alabama’s Gulf Coast will make monumental improvements for travel and commerce across the region. This advancement marks the final piece needed for the decades-awaited Mobile River Bridge and Bayway project. Once it is completed, this project will finally alleviate our traffic gridlock across Mobile Bay,” said Alabama Governor Kay Ivey. “Thank you, again, to the Trump Administration for investing in our state. Alabama is proud to be part of the Golden Age of Transportation.”
“This is the point where years of planning become construction,” Transportation Director John Cooper said. “The financing is in place, the construction price is established, and we’re ready to build. The support and flexibility provided at the federal level have been extraordinary and were essential to getting us here.”
The Trump Administration and USDOT worked closely with Alabama to preserve the project as escalating construction costs and engineering challenges made the previously planned simultaneous replacement of the bridge and Bayway financially unachievable. Federal flexibility allowed Alabama to divide the project into phases while preserving the long-term commitment to replace the Bayway. This phased approach has become more common with megaprojects across the country.
Phase One will construct the new Mobile River Bridge and connect it to the existing Bayway, which will be modified to provide three travel lanes in each direction. Approximately one mile of the Bayway will be reconstructed to connect to the new Mobile River Bridge, along with improvements throughout the I-10 corridor in Mobile and Baldwin counties.
This bridge will also provide a route for hazardous-material freight that is prohibited from using the Wallace Tunnel to freely move east and west without exiting the freeway and making its way through city streets.
There will be no tolls collected during any of the construction. Tolling will begin only when the new bridge and Phase One improvements open to traffic, currently projected for late 2031. The Wallace Tunnel, Bankhead Tunnel, Africatown Bridge and Causeway will remain toll-free alternatives.
We’ve already seen quite a bit of work being done over the last few years including soil testing and archaeologists excavated 15 historical and pre-historical sites along the right-of-way for the Mobile River Bridge & Bayway project, unearthing over 20,000 artifacts spanning thousands of years.
Early construction activities also include geotechnical work, test piles, site preparation and procurement of long-lead materials, are already underway. With financing complete, ALDOT expects to authorize the design-build team to proceed with full construction beginning on October 1, 2026.
According to ALDOT, the new bridge and Phase One improvements are expected to open to traffic in approximately five years.
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