Coastal Alabama Partnership invited Mobile and Baldwin County partners, elected officials and business leaders to have a conversation with Governor Kay Ivey, Speaker of the House Mac McCutcheon, John Cooper of ALDOT, and more to discuss a new transportation and infrastructure plan on May 15 in Montgomery, Alabama.
“Success is best found when we work together”, Governor Kay Ivey says about her new plan to Rebuild Alabama.
The Rebuild Alabama Plan is increasing revenue to help with transportation and infrastructure issues. With the help of this plan, more jobs will be able to be sustained and created which will mean a better future for our state’s citizens. Governor Ivey also touched on the education performance in Alabama, saying this is her “top priority” because we need to “refuse to be complacent.” This invitation to invocation calls on the citizens of Alabama to promote the importance of education in their homes. By being the front runners of education promotion, this will not only lead to a better future for our students, but a better future for our state.
Speaker of the House Mac McCutcheon opened with a strong statement about the stagnation and lack of infrastructure efforts in our state. The prolonged and overdue infrastructure efforts have triggered the legislature and they are ready to do something about it with the new Rebuild Alabama Plan. He touched on the budget of the plan saying that there is not an abundance of money, but enough to catch up. With this, our state government can go from level funding to increased funding which will then implement raises.
“It has been 27 years since we did anything for our roads.”
Speaker of the House Mac McCutcheon
John Cooper of ALDOT addressed the group and stressed the strides towards creating the Mobile River Bridge. This project will cost around $2 billion. The goal of the new bridge is to create a higher bridge in case of storm impacts, as well as, reduce traffic congestion and increase multiple routes between Mobile to Baldwin counties. The biggest issue on hand for Alabama citizens is the implication of the toll booth for the new Mobile River Bridge.
Many southwest Alabamians are concerned about their daily to monthly commute from Mobile to Baldwin County. However, ALDOT will be discussing the need for an affordable maximum monthly toll and reassures the citizens that the toll will be a good thing for the state as it will bring in additional revenue to offset finance, operation, and maintenance costs for the bridge. Citizens of Alabama will still have the free option to take the Causeway, Bankhead Tunnel, and Cochrane-Africatown Bridge.
Coastal Alabama works to promote six high priority areas, including infrastructure needs in Mobile and Baldwin County. We give our full support to the Rebuild Alabama Plan as the critical need for infrastructure developments have been made eminent in our region.
