MOBILE RIVER BRIDGE & BAYWAY PROJECT ECONOMIC IMPACT FACT SHEET

FACT: The $2.1 billion Mobile River Bridge & Bayway Project has a benefit-cost-ratio less than 1-to-1 and will consume far more economic resources than it produces. The No-Build alternative is more favorable.[1]

FACT: In 2019 dollars, the Bridge alone will have a $6.8 million annual negative impact on the Mobile maritime industry. The economic impact to other sectors (tourism, healthcare, construction, retail trade, etc) is unknown.[2]

FACT: The economic value of storm surge risk to both the existing Bayway and the proposed new Bayway is undisclosed and unknown.[3]

FACT: The Traffic & Revenue Study improperly uses arbitrary inflation rates in its forecasts and uses a lower inflation rate for cost growth and a higher inflation rate for revenue growth, producing artificially distorted net revenues.[4]

FACT: The Africatown/Plateau Community and Downtown Mobile will face higher traffic congestion costs and increased accident risk cost from drivers avoiding the MRB&B transportation tax.[5]

FACT: Mobile and Baldwin area law enforcement and judicial administrative systems face unknown burdens and unknown costs in enforcing transportation tax payments.[6]

FACT: The project includes bicycle, pedestrian and other recreational features that serve neither the stated project purpose or need and have no identified methods of paying for themselves.[7]

FACT: A new toll is a de facto tax increase. Enforced tolls and enforced taxes are treated identically by consumers and businesses in the marketplace. Consumers seek to avoid taxes where practical and/or constrain spending elsewhere. Businesses pass the full cost to consumers through price increases and accept the risk of lost sales. The cost of everything increases.

CONCLUSION: The MRB&B Project represents a bad investment for Mobile & Baldwin Counties, the State of Alabama and the Nation.

Read the full report on the project here.

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[1] Draft Environmental Impact Statement, 2014, Table 9, indexed to 2019 dollars using CPI 2012-2019.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Supplemental Draft EIS, 2019, Appendix G.

[4] I‐10 Mobile River Bridge and Bayway – Draft Traffic & Revenue Study Report, May 2018.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Alabama Senate Bill 347.

[7] Final Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision, 2019.