Beach Express traffic has increased by 20 percent since toll lifted

Beach Express traffic has increased by 20 percent since toll lifted

Reports from the Alabama Department of Transportation show that the number of vehicles on the Beach Express increased substantially after tolls were dropped. Since the fees were lifted over the Memorial Day weekend. From 6,000 to 8,000 more vehicles are using the Beach Express each day, according to ALDOT. Alabama purchased the bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway at the southern end of the expressway in May and removed the tolls that had been in place since the bridge opened in 2000.
Foley Mayor Ralph Hellmich said traffic has also dropped on Hwy. 59 as the number of vehicles on the Beach Express has increased in recent weeks.
In June 2024, more than 2.3 million vehicles crossed the Intracoastal Waterway using either the Beach Express or Hwy. 59. On the Beach Express, the number of vehicles grew by 44% in June. In that month, Beach Express traffic increased by more than 257,000 from the same period in 2023.
The number of vehicles on Alabama 59 decreased. During the week of the July 4 holiday, about 47,000 fewer cars and trucks used that highway, according to ALDOT.
Crews are working under a contract with the city of Foley to widen the Foley Beach Express by adding shoulders on the route through the city is moving ahead of schedule. The city will transfer ownership to ALDOT when the project is complete.
Hellmich said the work on the busy highway has frustrated some drivers, but the project is progressing ahead of schedule. “Our Foley Beach Express has tried the patience of people on that road, but the ALDOT/Foley contractor is ahead of schedule,” Hellmich said. “They have already widened the road. They are now in the paving portion of it.”