Gulf Shores, Ala. – (OBA) – Maybe the third time's the charm?

Gulf Shores is applying for a federal grant of about $60 million to help fund a new bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway the state said it is on again for the third time. Twice is was on the bid letting list in 2021 but pulled at the last minute both times.

After a work session council meeting on Sept. 6, the council went directly into a special regular session to formalize applying for the grant. The deadline for applying for a grant under this particular program is Sept. 8.

ALDOT announced on Sept. 1 that negotiations with the Baldwin County Bridge Company for a second toll span in Orange Beach fell through and announced for the third time that it was ready to proceed with its own bridge.

“We have been considering applying for a grant to help fund that bridge,” Mayor Robert Craft said. “There is a time frame we thought we could do it. So, we are eligible for a bridge investment program that we are in discussions with ALDOT and are going to apply for to assist them in the funding of this.”

The bridge project has been added to the bid letting list for Sept. 30 “for constructing the connector road (grading, drainage, pavement, bridge, fence installation, traffic lighting, and traffic stripe) … from the junction SR-180 to a point north of the junction of CR-4 (Cotton Creek Drive) in Gulf Shores. Length 1.078 mi. The Bracket Estimate on this project is from $49.4 million to $60 million.”

The council voted unanimously to allow city staffers to proceed with the application after a presentation by Grant and Environmental Coordinator Dan Bond.

“This is a resolution that would authorize staff to work with ALDOT to pursue this grant funding opportunity from the Federal Highway Administration in an amount not to exceed $60 million for the construction of the new ICW bridge and supporting infrastructure as part of the U.S. Department of Transportation Bridge investment program for projects less than $100 million,” Bond said. “This funding opportunity is part of the $550 billion bi-partisan infrastructure law that was passed by Congress last year.”

Part of the criteria in the grant requires the project to have much of the preliminary work done or already in place to be eligible for funding.

“As you know, ALDOT has already completed significant work on the project including acquiring rights of way, environmental permitting, preliminary engineering,” Bond said. “This new funding will be used to assist ALDOT in completing the final engineering and to construct the new bridge as well as to construct the connecting roadway to Cotton Creek Drive.”

The grant will cover 80 percent of the grant with the city and state combining to cover the remaining 20 percent. Bond said he anticipates the city will receive word on the grant after the first of the year and if successful it could be awarded in the spring.

“We’ve been aware of this for quite some time so we’ve been working on doing all the things that we could do to be prepared for this opportunity if it were to come to pass,” Craft said. “ALDOT will have to participate with us because this is a shovel-ready requirement so therefore you have to have all the things that Dan mentioned that ALDOT has that we don’t. It's really important move for this city and this island in our opinion.”

Connecting the road from Cotton Creek Drive to the Beach Express south of Coastal Gateway Boulevard was not discussed during the special meeting.