Could West Alabama Corridor Project Be Scrapped?
With Kay Ivey entering her 'lame duck' final year as governor, she is getting opposition from some state lawmakers over a few of her pet projects. One of those projects is the West Alabama Corridor, the project to completely four-lane U.S. 43/AL 69 between Tuscaloosa and Mobile.
House Speaker Pro Tem Chris Pringle (R-Mobile) expects the next governor “to shut that project down,” because there are no federal matching dollars. He says the state alone is on the hook for funding all construction and then maintaining the 75-miles of new four-lane between Moundville and Thomasville permanently.
Republican Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth has been a major critic of the corridor ever since Gov. Ivey first proposed it in her 2021 State of the State Address. He believes the money should be used to improve the heavily travelled I65 corridor and says there are at least 20 more deserving possibilities. Now he is stepping up that criticism because the project will not include a federal share.
Proponents say the project will bring economic benefits to one of the poorest regions of the state. They point to the increased accessibility to jobs, and healthcare by upgrading the existing routes for improved safety and access in the rural Black Belt.
But Ainsworth is calling the $730-million bond issue announced this week for the West Alabama Corridor Project a waste of money. He believes the money could be better utilized in high traffic and more populated areas.
The bonds will be financed by revenue from the gas-tax increase lawmakers approved in 2019 that is paying for Ivey's "Rebuild Alabama" highway and bridge improvement program.
Baldwin County State Senator Chris Elliot agrees with Ainsworth. “… (This bond issue) is going to end up putting her (Gov. Ivey) projects around the state in jeopardy, whether it’s the Northern Beltline or the I-10 bridge, major, huge projects that have big capital requirements. This just strikes me as irresponsible.”
Some lawmakers were able to initially stall the corridor work for more than a month in 2023 because the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT), estimated the final total could cost more than $1.1 billion. But Ivey was eventually able to sign a $74.9 million design-build contract for the initial stages. Ground was broken four years ago, and infrastructure work is currently underway east of Demopolis and north of Thomasville.
“When legislators overwhelmingly approved the Rebuild Alabama Act, they required ALDOT to make transportation investments that enhance economic development activities, ‘with priority given to projects in economically underserved areas of the state,'” Ivey emphasized at the time. “The West Alabama Highway is a prime example of what is envisioned by the Rebuild Alabama law.
President and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama Kyle South agreed, “We all know that infrastructure investment is the first step toward economic development success.”
Debate over the project is likely to spring up again during the coming legislative session beginning next month.
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