Mayor Craft of Gulf Shores penned a letter this week and posted it on Facebook. The post and letter pertain to a new bridge in the area and the current legal battle about the suspension of construction.

Judge Orders Gulf Shores Bridge Construction To Stop

AL Supreme Court Rules Bridge Project Remains Closed

The Mayor's comments from social media and the letter he penned on official City of Gulf Shores letterhead are posted below. Shortly after the comments were made public the Mayor of Orange Beach, Tony Kennon, stated that Mayor Craft owed the City of Orange Beach an apology.

CITY OF GULF SHORES SOCIAL MEDIA POST:

𝐔𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐋𝐃𝐎𝐓’𝐬 𝐏𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐨𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐲

For several years, and throughout this summer, residents and visitors to Alabama’s beaches have battled constant traffic gridlock along State Highway 59 and other area roads. Traffic congestion and related frustration were at their peak during the Independence Day holiday, leaving many asking what is happening with the new free public bridge the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) was constructing across the Intracoastal Waterway and why such a critical project with such obvious public benefit is now stalled.

While there are no definitive answers available, below is an update on the status of the legal process and the City of Gulf Shores’ direct efforts to help save the construction of a new free public bridge across the Intracoastal Waterway.

 The fate of the free public bridge across the Intracoastal Waterway that the Alabama Department of Transportation began construction on last year is currently awaiting a ruling by the Alabama Supreme Court.

 On October 7, 2022, Governor Ivey awarded the contract to construct the free public bridge to the Alabama-based contractor Scott Bridge Company, Inc. A notice to proceed with construction was given on October 17, 2022.

 On October 20, 2022, the Baldwin County Bridge Company filed suit in the Circuit Court of Montgomery County seeking to stop the ongoing construction of the free public bridge in order to protect the financial interests of the toll bridge company and the City of Orange Beach in the operation of the toll bridge.

 Montgomery County Circuit Judge Jimmy B. Pool granted the preliminary injunction requested by the toll bridge company on May 17, immediately halting construction on the new free public bridge.

 ALDOT has appealed Judge Pool’s Order to the Alabama Supreme Court, and in doing so asked that the preliminary injunction be overturned to allow construction to proceed.

 Because of the clear harm to the public interest caused by Judge Pool’s interruption of the construction of the free public bridge, the City of Gulf Shores requested and was granted permission by the Supreme Court to file a “friend of the court” brief in support of dissolving the preliminary injunction to allow construction to proceed. The City’s brief to the Supreme Court stresses to the Court in no uncertain terms the public’s critical interest in having the construction of the free public bridge resume.

 The City’s brief referenced eight Federal or State Supreme Court cases, including the 1837 ruling below that clearly demonstrates the public’s interest must be protected over the profits of a private company.

 Since the United States Supreme Court’s decision almost 200 years ago in Proprietors of Charles River Bridge v. Proprietors of Warren Bridge, 36 U.S. (11 Pet.) 420 (1837), it has been a self-evident proposition of American law that the builder of a proprietary toll bridge must accept the possibility that a subsequent free public bridge may impair or destroy the profitability of the private toll bridge.

 ALDOT’s Waterways Bridge will clearly serve the public’s interest and improve the safety and welfare of residents and visitors along Alabama’s beaches.

 Protecting the profit interests of a private toll bridge and a municipality that directly benefits financially from its operation should never be placed over the public’s interest.

 The toll bridge company and the City of Orange Beach have both filed briefs with the Supreme Court that are glowingly supportive of the alternative plan proposed by the Bridge Company. This deal would have required ALDOT to contractually commit the State to surrender the ability to construct any new public bridge east of the Highway 59 Bridge for 50 years, regardless of public need. This demand and others included in the proposal are patently illegal for the State to agree to because they violate longstanding case law and the Alabama and United States Constitutions.

Traffic conditions on the Highway 59 Bridge are dire and will only continue to deteriorate if the construction of ALDOT’s new public bridge is halted. The public will be made to pay the price for protecting the proprietary interests of the toll bridge company and the City of Orange Beach in the profits generated by the private toll bridge. If the new public bridge is not built, the present level of pain and danger experienced by the public will continue and will worsen that much sooner.

The public is entitled to the relief that ALDOT’s new free public bridge will provide, regardless of any potential claims the toll bridge company and the City of Orange Beach may make about their profits being damaged.

 All briefs were due to be filed with the Supreme Court by July 14. Following this date, the Supreme Court may request additional information or issue a ruling as they see fit. 

𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐨𝐫 𝐑𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐭 𝐂𝐫𝐚𝐟𝐭

“It is concerning to imagine the future of our island if ALDOT isn’t allowed to build its new free public bridge. The existing traffic conditions on Highway 59 are dangerous. This congestion puts the safety, quality of life, and well-being of the public at risk every day. It impedes critical access to healthcare and poses a significant threat in any hurricane evacuation. ALDOT’s new bridge would help alleviate every one of these challenges the very first day it is open.

Unfortunately, solving these critical public safety issues and protecting the future of our beach communities are not the goals of the Baldwin County Bridge Company and the City of Orange Beach. It is clear their priorities lie only with protecting the profits they receive from operating their private toll bridge. They proposed an alternate “deal” that would have handed them a 50-year monopoly, unregulated tolls, and total control over if and when any new bridge would be built across the Intracoastal Waterway, regardless of the public need. After the State refused to succumb to their demands, the Bridge Company filed a lawsuit in a last-ditch attempt to block ALDOT from building a new public bridge. Can you imagine if this multi-billion dollar foreign private company and the City of Orange Beach are allowed to dictate our local public transportation for the next half-century?

Every day their lawsuit delays ALDOT’s construction of a free public bridge, the Bridge Company wins, and they and the City of Orange Beach continue raking in their profits from their private toll bridge. Meanwhile, the public pays the price as millions of tax dollars are wasted fighting a greedy legal battle, and the pain and danger from traffic conditions on Highway 59 worsen.

It goes without saying that it is my sincere hope that the Alabama Supreme Court will reject this attempt and protect the public’s interest by allowing the construction of the free public bridge to resume.”

Click here to learn more and view the briefs submitted by the City of Gulf Shores and ALDOT. https://www.gulfshoresal.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=890