Hudson Asks for State BP Money To Finish ?Bloody 98? Upgrade

Posted on: Sep 8th, 2015 | Announcements

Crashes along the two-lane section of U.S. Highway 98 increased 62 percent from 2012 to 2014, ensuring that ?Bloody 98? remains a fitting moniker for the deadly roadway. ?It?s well past the time to do something about this treacherous section of our state?s highway system,? said Mobile County Commissioner Connie Hudson, who is imploring Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley to take a fraction of the state?s BP settlement money to finish the two decades worth of effort to upgrade the roadway. The legislature is meeting in special session starting today and state Rep. Margie Wilcox will introduce legislation to send a portion of the BP state settlement money to the Gulf Coast communities most impacted by the BP oil spill. Five people have died in the last three years in crashes along the unimproved portion. Another 72 motorists were injured. Stepped up patrols by the state have been ineffective in turning around the trend to more death and injury, which is blamed on the road?s configuration, its rural location, growing congestion, speeding and reckless driving. ?We can?t continue to ignore an issue that proves unrelenting in the random carnage it visits upon travelers driving this route,? said Hudson. In a letter to the governor, Commissioner Hudson has asked him prioritize funding for completion of the highway, which has been improved from I-65 to Schillinger Road, leaving 10 miles of roadway still unimproved and lethal. She has asked the governor to commit BP settlement money to the project by earmarking it through the Alabama Department of Transportation. Cost of the project is estimated to be $120 million for the initial two lanes of roadway from Schillinger to Mississippi and another $80 million for the full, four lanes. According to Matthew Ericksen, Assistant Region Engineer for the Alabama Department of Transportation Southwest Region, the unimproved section of Highway 98 is the number one priority for upgrades of two-lane roadways in the State of Alabama. ALDOT reports that the stretch of 98 through Semmes is now the busiest two-lane state road, averaging more than 18,630 cars per day. ?This is both an urgent and important issue,? said Mobile County Commissioner Merceria Ludgood about the Highway 98 upgrade. ?It?s a major public safety issue in our community and has been for far too long.?