Thread: Orange Beach Bridge/Highway plans

???

I can't believe how this seems to have escaped most everyone's attention?!?
The highway bridge would be a 'knife' of concrete, steel, pollution and noise cutting the Gulf State Park almost into two halves.

http://blog.al.com/live/2012/01/brid...e_park_in.html

[size=14pt]Plan for bridge over Gulf State Park draws environmental concerns[/size]
Published: Friday, January 20, 2012, 8:04 AM Updated: Friday, January 20, 2012, 10:37 AM
By Kathy Jumper, Press-Register Press-Register

[img width=380 height=352]http://media.al.com/live/photo/10466481-large.jpeg[/img]

ORANGE BEACH, Alabama -- The state says a planned elevated roadway over Gulf State Park would have minimal impact on the park, while environmentalists liken it to paving paradise.

"We want to find the lowest-impact way to go through the park," said Tony Harris, a spokesman for the Alabama State Department of Transportation in Montgomery.

The roadway is still in the planning stages and will include engineering and environmental studies — and it could take two years before it’s complete, he said.

"The impact to the environment, the aesthetics and the people’s enjoyment in the park are all reasons we oppose it," said Casi Callaway of the Mobile Baykeeper preservation group.

Mayor Tony Kennon told residents at a town hall meeting earlier this week about the state’s plans, which could result in moving the toll plaza at the bridge on the Intracoastal Waterway to Baldwin County 20 in Foley.

The bridge, dubbed the Cross Island Parkway by some, would start at Ala. 182, or Perdido Beach Boulevard, behind a power substation near Tipseas Restaurant. The bridge would then travel over the park’s wildlife area and part of a lake, and drop motorists onto Canal Road at the entrance to the Foley Beach Express.

The elevated roadway would follow Collegiate Lane, or what locals call Power Line Road, a dirt road that is used by eight different utilities, city officials said.

"We don’t want to speculate what will be elevated and won’t," Harris said. "We haven’t done the route yet. I don’t know if it was appropriate for the mayor to be talking about it yet."

Kennon said he told state highway director John Cooper that he was going to announce it at the town hall meeting, and the director "was perfectly happy with it. People want to know why Canal Road has not been widened. We’ve got road problems and I’ve got to tell folks what’s going on."

The elevated roadway would take the place of a state project to widen Canal Road to five lanes, according to Kennon. This would also alleviate traffic congestion on Canal Road, and provide another evacuation route, he said.

"I’m as much a conservationist as anybody and I love our parks," Kennon said. "The point is, we cannot move traffic with the road system we have." The elevated road would also give everybody a chance to see the beautiful park, he said.

A bridge cutting through the park may deter visitors, according to Callaway. In fact, she said the state considered putting a paved road through the park several years ago, and that was met with little support from state and city officials at the time. She said an elevated road would still impact the park.

David Underhill, conservation chair for the Mobile Bay Sierra Club, agreed. "Instead of paving the park’s surviving bit of paradise, tax money should be spent only for creation of a public transit system, including biking and hiking paths, that keep cars on the mainland and off the island."

If the state does build the elevated roadway, there are ways to limit the potential negative impacts to the park, according to Phillip West, the city’s coastal resources manager. He is also project manager of the 11-mile Hugh S. Branyon Backcountry Trail, which runs through the city and Gulf State Park.

"I’d love to have a park without any disconnection to it. I can see the need, but there has to be mitigating factors with it being elevated," he said. For instance, he said designers should create sound and light deflectors; lower the speed limit; stain the concrete road for less visual impact with earth-tone colors; limit the type of vehicles that can use the road by restricting motorcycles and 18-wheelers that make a lot of noise.

"Some of these things will cost more money," West said. "But if they’ve got to do it, do it right and don’t skimp on the costs."

And I can't believe how Channel 10 is 'drinking the kool-aid' about this. ???

http://www.fox10tv.com/dpp/news/loca...a-beach-bridge

[size=12pt]Orange Beach planning a beach bridge[/size]
Updated: Wednesday, 18 Jan 2012, 10:21 PM CST
Published : Wednesday, 18 Jan 2012, 10:20 PM CST

John Rogers
Orange Beach, Ala. (WALA) - Inside the Meat Mart Butcher shop in Orange Beach, their shelves are loaded with assorted meats, ready for grilling on the beach.

The shop is along Canal Road, a heavily trafficked area, especially during the summer. But when the road's packed, not many customers come in.

The owner of the Meat Mart, Glenn Beard said, "There is an extreme amount of traffic on this road during the summer. People want to get where they're going and they want to get home when it's time to go."

Many locals here say traffic can be horrendous.

As a solution, Mayor Tony Kennon is working with the state to build a bridge over Gulf State park to bring tourists directly to the beach.

"This is absolutely necessary. We've got to be able to move traffic to and from the beach, or we're gonna lose our traffic, we're gonna lose our tourists," Kennon said.

The mayor said plans are being drawn up to build an elevated bridge over Powerline road.
The road is already in place not too far from The Wharf. Right now it's a long, bumpy stretch of dirt road with powerlines canvassing overhead.

Mayor Kennon said the bridge would have light shields and be soundproofed to protect the wildlife below.

"It would not affect the environment in any form or fashion, critters can move freely underneath the bridge," Kennon said.

Meantime, Canal Road is littered with shops and businesses.

The mayor said there were originally plans to expand Canal Road to five lanes but the plans were too expensive. So instead, the mayor would like to see the city add walking paths and bike trails to give it a “downtown feel”.

Beard said, "I think they'll get out and explore, they'll check out the businesses, it might be a good thing."

Just about everyone we talked to here were in support of the bridge. Many admit the traffic taints the view of this paradise, and they hope a bridge can change all that.

Mayor Kennon said construction could probably begin sometime in the next couple of years.

Dang, this is the first I've heard about it. I'm bet it would have a big negative impact for all the people who stay there at the park in campers and cabins.

I love how they say it won't affect the wildlife. How about when they are building it. It's just a load of bs. If they want to build a bridge, build one westward down to Fort Morgan road so I would have an alternate route to work. That would be more useful. I also want to know how a bridge and project like that would be cheaper than 5 laning canal road! :spank: :

Might have another meeting to go to now in addition to the Montgomery one, Orange Beach Town Hall. We could get a group together to oppose this project.

[size=12pt]
I added the locations of the Pier, Cabins and Campground to the map as best as I could speculate. If the Campground is where I think it is, I would imagine the state would have some issues with the proposal.

[img width=720 height=764]http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g446/finchaser1/Forum%20Only/bridgemap.png[/img]

[/size]

Whoa. Every park needs an expressway, right?

As someone who is majoring in environmental science, this just makes me cringe picturing this in the park.... :wall:

Hmm... Makes getting from J and M to the Pier a lot quicker.

[quote author=Bubba link=topic=514.msg4699#msg4699 date=1327271468]
Hmm... Makes getting from J and M to the Pier a lot quicker.
[/quote]
[size=12pt]
Plus, I think they are going to move the toll booth up to CR 20.

[/size]