Fairhope, Alabama
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| Proposal for truck bridge. |
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| Citizens Advisory Committee meeting. |
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| Third lane to be added? |
LANES TOO NARROW?
During a meeting last week, members of the ESMPO's Citizens Advisory Committee raised questions about the safety of the design of a component of the new "truck bridge" project over Mobile Bay.
Members worried that re-striping to squeeze three lanes of traffic onto the existing bayway bridges where there are only two now (with no emergency "pull off" lanes) would create "a potential huge safety hazard" for motorists.
Citing experiences with similar highways elsewhere in the country, one called it "scary ... speeding trucks on either side ... like driving down a canyon."
Another was "very concerned about the re-striping, where the trucks rejoin/merge with other traffic" on the east side, and suggested a safety study be done before proceeding.
Some suggestions from the committee to remediate the problems included crossovers between the two bayway spans (so traffic could pull off or be redirected if needed), dedicated trucks-only lanes perhaps separated by physical barriers, or even constructing an additional lane just for trucks on each side of existing spans.
MPO coordinator Sarah Sislak observed there were already plans for "emergency response vehicles stationed on both sides of the bay ... to respond in case of any incident."
A representative from ALDOT said precise engineering plans have yet to be drawn up for the project, but he would take the committee's ideas back to project engineers. "We don't want to create safety issues." The immediate need is just to get the project started so that federal funding already approved is not lost, he added.
CONDITIONAL SUPPORT GIVEN
After a lengthy discussion, the committee voted unanimously to add the truck bridge design to the MPO'S Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) as proposed, but with an amendment "to encourage the MPO to examine the safety issues relative to trucks ... and other vehicles merging together at the merging point (mid-bay)."
Preliminary construction start date for phase one of the $725 million project is 2022 or 2023 ... with completion in 2026, according to the ALDOT representative.
He encouraged citizens to visit the official truck bridge website to offer comments on the project - click.
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| https://www.mobilerivertruckbridge.com/ |
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