A New Gulf Shores Landmark: 75-Foot Pedestrian Bridge to Span Waterway
GULF SHORES ALA.
January 8, 2025
AL.com
By Thanksgiving 2026, Gulf Shores visitors will have a new way to walk off that extra serving of sweet potato casserole —75 feet above the ground.
The city is set to build a pedestrian bridge spanning the Intracoastal Waterway, a long-awaited project that promises easier access to both sides of an evolving entertainment district.
On Monday, the Gulf Shores City Council unanimously approved a $24.3 million contract with Northport-based Harrison Construction Co. to make it happen.
“This has been a long time coming with the problems we had with the design and the first bid we had which was dramatically overbudgeted,” Gulf Shores Mayor Robert Craft said.
The revised bridge project is a change from a previous version that included a spiraling staircase, and a steel structure. The lowest bid for the city’s initial proposal came in at $47 million — nearly double the city’s budget for the bridge.
The project’s designers, Volkert Inc., went back to the drawing board and produced a newer and slimmed-down prefabricated alternative with a budget of around $24 million. The project’s costs are being financed, in part, by a $7.9 million federal BUILD grant awarded to the city in 2019.
“This is on budget,” Craft said about the new project. “We had designs for a circular ramp that was at-grade for handicap (access). But we have elevators (with the new design) large enough to carry bicyclists and pedestrians up and down both sides. I’m really glad to have this opportunity. We want to get it started.”
The new pedestrian bridge will add a somewhat iconic structure to the city’s Waterway Village, an entertainment area that includes restaurants such as Acme Oyster House and Tacky Jack’s and establishments like Big Beach Brewing. It will connect those venues on the south end with the district’s northern end that includes Lulu’s.
The village has long been viewed by city officials as the city’s downtown area. They hope it will attract residents and visitors alike and be an alternative attraction removed from the bustling beaches.
Some of the bridge’s highlights:
It’s really tall at 75 feet above the water to accommodate bridge height requirements set by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. At that height, the pedestrian bridge will be the equivalent of the W.C. Holmes Memorial Bridge, which is Alabama State Route 59′s bridge leading most vehicular traffic into Gulf Shores and the state’s famed public beach.
The stairs and elevator towers on both the north and south end of the bridge will have approximately 144 stairs. Each tower will have freight-sized elevators large enough to accommodate at least three bicyclists and three people at once.
The project includes two plazas on each side of the bridge, and parking and streetscape improvements on both sides.
The underlying reason for the pedestrian bridge is because pedestrian access over the Intracoastal Waterway is being eliminated on the W.C. Holmes Bridge. The Holmes Bridge is undergoing work that involves adding traffic lanes as part of an ongoing Route 59 lane widening from Fort Morgan Road north to Cypress Bend Drive.
Harrison Construction’s bid was the lowest of two that the city received on the project. Scott Bridge Company, which is building a two-lane vehicular bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway, submitted a $30.8 million proposal.
Craft said it was the first time that Gulf Shores has contracted with Harrison Construction for a project. The firm’s portfolio includes a host of churches, schools, restaurants, banks, and condominiums in and around the Tuscaloosa area. It also includes numerous buildings and athletic centers at the University of Alabama.
