GULF SHORES — The Alabama Supreme Court has made a unanimous decision to allow construction of a new toll-free Intracoastal Waterway Bridge in Gulf Shores to go ahead, ending a battle between the island's two cities.

“This is an important victory for Alabama's coastal residents and millions of visitors to our state," the Alabama Department of Transportation said Friday, Aug. 25 in a statement from spokesman Tony Harris. "The need for a new, free bridge is obvious. Not a single justice on the Supreme Court voted to uphold the injunction. The Supreme Court’s decision means construction can restart on  this project that will help relieve traffic congestion and provide an additional evacuation route. "

"Today’s Supreme Court decision means that the new, free bridge over the
Intracoastal Waterway will be built. We have said all along that the Waterways Bridge will clearly serve the public’s interest and improve the safety and welfare of residents and visitors in our local communities," said Gulf Shores Mayor Robert Craft. "Our support for this critical project never
wavered and our resolve to fight to make it a reality never weakened. When

constructed, the Waterways Bridge will immediately improve traffic conditions on State Highway 59, provide an additional evacuation route off the island, and create a foundation of new transportation infrastructure to help accommodate the continued growth and success of Alabama’s beaches and state-wide economy."

According to Harris, construction on the bridge can move forward in the coming weeks.

History of bridge development and construction

In October 2022, Gov. Kay Ivey awarded a contract to construct the bridge, which is intended to alleviate the traffic conditions on Highway 59, support access to emergency services and make it safer to evacuate in the case of a storm or emergency. Later that month, the Baldwin County Bridge Company filed a suit to stop the construction of the bridge, for which land had already started to be cleared.

Montgomery County Circuit Judge Jimmy B. Pool granted the preliminary injunction requested by the toll bridge company on May 17, immediately halting construction. ALDOT then appealed the order to the Alabama Supreme Court, in doing so asking that the preliminary injunction be overturned to allow construction to proceed.

To show its support of the parties in favor of building the bridge, the City of Gulf Shores requested and was granted by the state's top legal organ to file a "friend of the court" brief. Craft's statement said the city filed the brief asking for the injunction to be dissolved "because of the clear harm to the public interest caused by Judge Pool’s interruption of the construction of the free public bridge. ... 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."

Craft and the city held a public meeting in July to give an update on the situation and the brief they filed.

The statement said both the toll bridge and the City of Orange Beach filed briefs with the Supreme Court supporting an alternate plan that would require ALDOT to surrender the ability to construct the bridge — or any bridge east of the Hwy. 59 WC Holmes Bridge — for 50 years, regardless of public need.

Orange Beach Mayor Tony Kennon has said publicly and in precious reporting by Gulf Coast Media he thinks proposals by the Baldwin County Bridge Company to eliminate tolls for Baldwin residents and add more lanes and toll booths to the bridge in Orange Beach would be a better solution to traffic problems than the ALDOT plan to build the new two-lane bridge to the west

In addition to the toll bridge in Orange Beach, the Dr. W.C. Holmes Bridge carries Hwy. 59 traffic across the water in Gulf Shores. The non-toll bridge carries more than 10 million vehicles a year, according to Gulf Shores traffic reports.

The new bridge is poised between the two existing ones. Gulf Shores is extending Waterway East Boulevard north of the Intracoastal to link with the planned road to the new bridge.

Another bridge on Alabama 182 crosses Perdido Pass in Orange Beach near the Florida state line.

Gulf Shores' brief pointed to an 1837 Supreme Court decision it says supports its cause, citing that Charles River Bridge v. Proprietors of Warren Bridge requires 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.

"There is no way to get the number of people in town today out of here if we get an early storm, if they rule in favor of the Orange Beach plan we are stuck," Craft said to the crowd of city staff and public attendees at a city council work session meeting on July 17. "Hopefully someone up there will realize that aside from the financial impact, there is an impact on our lives. It is a death zone if you get caught in a storm between here and the intracoastal."

Kennon has not returned calls for comment from Gulf Coast Media.