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DOT plans up to $2.52 billion loan for Alabama I-10 project
Federal financing would support a major freight corridor upgrade centered on Mobile Bay
A rendering of the Mobile River Bridge and Bayway Project. The new span will improve transportation of hazardous materials on I-10. (Alabama Department of Transportation)
Key Takeaways:
- The Department of Transportation plans to loan up to $2.52 billion for Alabama’s Mobile River Bridge and Bayway Project.
- The project includes a new six-lane Mobile River Bridge and traffic improvements in Mobile and Baldwin counties.
- Officials say the project will improve freight movement, safety, Port of Mobile access and hurricane evacuation capacity.
The Department of Transportation plans to loan up to $2.52 billion for Alabama’s Mobile River Bridge and Bayway Project to transform the Interstate 10 freight corridor.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said that, after decades of delay, the project “will ease traffic congestion, boost the flow of freight, and enhance safety for drivers.”
Currently, the I-10 corridor in Alabama each day handles 78,000 vehicles and 10,100 trucks with 3.68 million trucks yearly.
To be completed in two phases, the project is billed as Alabama’s largest infrastructure development.
It will involve building a new, six-lane, cable-stayed Mobile River Bridge to add freight transportation capacity.
The new span will improve transportation of hazardous materials with a direct I-10 route because hazmat freight haulers are prohibited from traveling through the George Wallace Tunnel and instead must detour through downtown Mobile and neighborhoods, Duffy’s office noted.
“Once it is completed, this project will finally alleviate our traffic gridlock across Mobile Bay,” said Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey. She predicted the federal assistance will result in benefits not only for Alabama’s Gulf Coast but the nation as well due to “monumental improvements for travel and commerce across the region.”
The Alabama Department of Transportation also plans to improve traffic flows in Mobile and Baldwin counties by creating a key interchange.
ALDOT’s latest estimate, issued in July, suggested the first phase will cost $3.2 billion. The second phase will involve building a new Bayway structure to be funded by existing toll rate revenue.
This advancement marks the final piece needed for the decades-awaited Mobile River Bridge and Bayway project. Thank you, again, to the Trump Administration for investing in our state. Alabama is proud to be part of the Golden Age of Transportation. #alpolitics https://t.co/pomk5BUoHC
— Governor Kay Ivey (@GovernorKayIvey) September 18, 2026
No tolls will be collected until the new bridge opens, which is slated to be in five years, according to a project fact sheet.
Between the borders of Mississippi and Florida, I-10 passes through Alabama for just over 66 miles. The interstate stretch over the Mobile River Bridge has been identified as critical for the movement of freight, according to the state’s 2023 freight plan. The state’s worst traffic bottleneck for trucking freight is in Mobile along I-10.
The project, to be built and managed by ALDOT, also will facilitate hurricane evacuations when completed. At the same time, it will expand freight access to the Port of Mobile by rebuilding one mile of the existing Bayway. Plans also call for restriping the 7.5-mile Bayway to expand travel in each direction from two to three lanes.
