Alternate Route

Leaving out of Gulf Shores on Saturday always seems to run into a traffic jam ......sometimes it's backed up on I 10 almost to the Gulf Shores entrance and takes an hour or two to get through the tunnel and Mobile. The map shows an alternate route through Fairhope and then taking the Spanish Fort road, US 90, up to 165, which will get me back around to 65 and US 98 headed to Hattiesburg.

Is this good road, safe to travel, just as congested, a time saver, or ? Any local feedback would be greatly appreciated. Just try it and see?

You can take cty rd 10 west and cut across to Magnolia Springs, get on 98 there and take a right on 181 past the fish river bridge. Stay on 181 until you hit I10.

I would avoid 59 as much as possible and 98 in Fhope.

Saturday afternoons westbound I-10 are ALWAYS a traffic clog :(
Your route is pretty good as almost anything is better than using I-10.

IF the traffic is 'OK' on northbound Hwy 59, but I expect I-10 will be backed up I take the Hwy 90 west just north of Loxley and then go north on Hwy 181 to Hwy 31.

IF the northbound traffic is REALLY heavy on Hwy 59 north from Gulf Shores I sometimes 'bail out' @ Co Rd 12 and go west to Co Rd 49 (Magnolia Springs Hwy).
Then go west on 98 to Hwy 181 and north on it to Hwy 31.

Hwy 31 merges with Hwy 90/98 at the bottom of the Spanish Fort hill and you avoid all those lighted (and overcrowded) intersections in Spanish Fort on Hwy 90/98.

Stay on the causeway (Hwy 90 aka Battleship Parkway) but take the northern route around the tunnels on the 'Cochran Causeway/ Bridge' which soon intersects I-165
From 165 @ I-65 the Hwy 98 intersection is less than 5 minutes south.

Hope this helps!


P.S.
This past Saturday @ 2pm the I-10 westbound traffic was backed up (bumper-to-bumper) from the Wallace Tunnel to the Hwy 181 (Malbis) exit.
So I got off there and went north on 181 to 31 and took the northern route over the Cochrane Bridge and I-165 to I-65
The time on that route was almost exactly 1 hour (about 'normal').

that's why we would come in a few days early and leave a day or two late to avoid the traffic during spring break....plus to squeeze a few days longer too....the grand kids can miss a couple more days of school....always see traffic going or coming the opposite direction doing it this way....for the last so many years :yay:

This thread should be stickied. :3some:

Thanks for the help, folks. Pier#r, thought you could be counted on to know a short cut or two. Thanks for sharing them. Maybe someday the powers that be will see the need for an interstate type road to Gulf Shores. Probably not in my lifetime, though. :(

Thanks Rich.
Forty years ago I crisscrossed most of those Baldwin county roads to find shorter & alternate routes.
Most days it takes me an hour drive (+ or -), but on a 'bad day', well... ::) :boohoo:

Yeah, believe it or not before 59 was 4-laned ALL roads were a nightmare on holiday weekends.
And prior to the I-10 'Bayway' being opened (mid 1970s) westbound traffic on 90/98 on a Sat or Sun afternoon was a (BAD) joke ::)

When I typed in the changes for the "northern route" around Mobile, the map program directed me to take US 45 off I 65 and turn left on Bear Fork Road. Are you guys familiar with that road? Looks like mostly rural on the map, but if it is a good road it probably will save a few miles and miss the congestion on Moffett/98 around the I65 interchange.

... that will work! :yippee:

Once you get out of the 'built up' area on Hwy 45 you should have "smooth sailing"
[img width=295 height=270]http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CUQ8Wf7E9M8/T5YI81OkdOI/AAAAAAAABQ0/hyc1uN8qQTc/s1600/Gilligan.jpg[/img]

Yea. I remember it taking 4 hours to get to Mobile in (?) '73 ahead of a hurricane.

hope one day, I won't have to worry about to much distance and be within a few miles or soooooooo....I can dream can't I .....[img width=71 height=90]http://i49.tinypic.com/8wbd06.gif[/img]....[img width=70 height=63]http://i46.tinypic.com/fch9s.gif[/img]

The Beach Express can save you a lot of time but you have to know how to get to it. It changes so check status as to where the best place to get on currently is. Current information is always at How to get to Gulf Shores