The director of the Alabama Dept. of Transportation (ALDOT) is facing a lawsuit from a private toll bridge operator, who says its plan to construct a public, toll-free bridge near the state’s Gulf Coast is a deliberate attempt to undermine its business and cost it hundreds of millions of dollars.

约翰·库珀（John Cooper）以阿尔多（Aldot）的董事身份，在10月20日在蒙哥马利县巡回法院提交的鲍德温县桥公司（BCBC）提起的诉讼中，该诉讼计划在蒙哥马利县巡回法院提交的计划，该计划计划在上面的水道上建造一座新的桥梁Aldot表示，将减轻拥堵，并为居民提供另一条安全的疏散路线。

该案定于11月29日进行听证。BCBC要求法院停止建造新桥梁，以确定的金额损害赔偿，并为其判处该公司建造桥梁的土地进行补偿。

In the complaint, BCBC says it built its bridge in 2000 “at its own expense to meet an urgent public need” and that Cooper is “abusing the power of the State of Alabama to intentionally harm BCBC and to undermine its fairly bargained-for contractual rights.”

它指责库珀“正在执行摧毁BCBC的合同权利并迫使BCBC倒闭的使命”。

Aldot发言人托尼·哈里斯（Tony Harris）在一份声明中说，该州只是想建造一座桥梁，以减少交通拥堵并改善生活质量。

“The foreign-owned toll bridge company wants to protect their profits without regard to how long people wait in traffic,” he says. “This frivolous lawsuit will waste taxpayer money and seeks to delay a local improvement project the area clearly needs.”

他说，任何延迟都只会使该地区的交通问题更加严重。

The Baldwin County Bridge Co. operates the Foley Beach Express (FBE) and the Beach Express Bridge in question, a privately owned toll bridge which offers an alternate route to Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, according to its website, which says “due to the small fee we charge and fewer managed intersections on the approach, traffic usually is lighter and moves faster than state highway 59.”

它说，这条路线可以将旅行时间缩短20分钟，绕过交通信号灯并保持比59号高速公路更高的速度限制，为带有两个车轴的车辆收取2.75美元的费用，为两个超过两个轴的额外车轴增加1美元。

“多年来，Aldot进行了真诚的谈判，但是Toll Bridge Company拒绝同意减少交通拥堵的任何要求，而是要求50年的保证，无论需要什么需要，该地区都不会建造其他桥梁。”哈里斯说。“这家公司希望承诺他们的垄断从未有效，将再保护50年。很难想象一个更糟糕的主意。”

该诉讼声称，Aldot的计划中的桥梁距离海滩快车桥（Beach Express Bridge）在1.1英里处是“公认的不必要的”，这是对公司财产的谴责并破坏了其投资价值。

这家桥梁公司表示，与Aldot进行了四年的谈判，库珀的行动已被取消，包括BCBC的提议，要建造与其现有桥梁相邻的桥梁，免除当地人的通行费或对该地区的基础设施需求做出财务贡献。

“Director Cooper and his Department’s conduct have caused and will continue to cause the value of BCBC’s remaining property to be totally destroyed or, at the very least, to decline by hundreds of millions of dollars,” says the 26-page complaint.

Bridge Work Already Underway
总部位于阿拉巴马州的Opelika - 斯科特桥公司已开始在两车道桥梁上工作，设定了2026年1月1日的完成日期，该项目将减轻59号州际公路上的交通拥堵，改善该项目的交通拥堵，改善连接性的连接性社区并提供额外的紧急撤离路线。

The bridge will be the third to cross the Intracoastal Waterway in the area, joining the toll bridge connected to the Foley Beach Express and the bridge on State Route 59, which ALDOT says is frequently congested with traffic.

The 4.2-mile, $51.85-million project will connect Canal Road, or State Route 180, in Gulf Shores to an intersection with Cotton Creek Drive, continuing on to a new intersection with the Foley Beach Express (FBE) near where the FBE crosses the Intracoastal near the popular Wharf amphitheater.

A roundabout is planned for Canal Road to handle traffic using the new bridge—with 75 ft of clearance over the canal—will have two 12-ft travel lanes and 10-ft shoulders for a total width of 46 ft 5 in., according to ALDOT.

Two alternative options are being considered for the northern segment of the project, at the new intersection with the FBE.

备用1为向南行驶的交通提供了一座桥梁，同时维护北行交通车道，从而使驾驶员可以在不停止的情况下合并FBE。

替代1A对FBE进行重新配置，以添加回旋处，以处理海湾海岸的交通标题，但不会越过沿海地区，旁路绕过向南行驶到新桥的驾驶员，以及那些向北行驶的人留在FBE上。

“Like the many Alabamians and visitors who are tired of sitting in traffic on Alabama’s coast, we look forward to completion of the free (bridge),” Harris says.