OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Baldwin County Commission Road and Bridge Meeting - February 13, 2026

County Commission — Friday, February 13, 2026
BodyBaldwin County, Alabama
SessionCounty Commission
DateFriday, February 13, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 37:20

Transcript — Verbatim
0:04

We'll go ahead and get this meeting started.

0:11

So good morning, everyone.

0:12

Welcome to the um the Baldwin County Commission Road and Bridge meeting.

0:18

This is first one we've had in a while, but glad you all are here early on a nice cool crisp January morning.

0:27

Um I have asked Commissioner Gruber if he will lead us in the invitation, followed by that.

0:33

Commissioner Ball will lead us in the pledge.

0:37

Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for allowing us to be here today to do the business of the county and to look over for the road and bridge uh committee.

0:49

We want to make our roads as safe as possible whenever we can and always will.

0:55

But please watch over each and every one of our employees and watch over all of our first responders, our men and women who serve uh in our you know forces uh today, and uh also please guide us in helping us do the right thing for this uh access management plan in God's name we pray, amen.

1:21

Remember joining for the play.

1:24

Congratulations to the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God and the visible to you, Justice Friday.

1:37

Thank you.

1:41

The first item of business on our agenda is the adoption of the July 18th, 2024 road and bridge meeting minutes.

1:49

I believe all of you guys were here.

1:51

So uh if you've read the minutes, have no additions or deletions.

1:55

I would entertain a motion to approve.

1:59

So moved, second.

2:00

All right, we have a motion by Commissioner Gruber and seconded by Commissioner Ball.

2:04

All those in favor signify by saying aye.

2:08

In order to expedite this meeting, I'm just going to yield the floor to our county engineer Frank Lundy and let him lead us through items two through four.

2:19

All right, thank you, madam chairman.

2:21

Um we have none to cover that hadn't already been covered in the adoption of the previous meeting minutes.

2:34

So we will be moving along to new business, which is the Baldwin Beach Express 2 proposed access management plan.

2:41

I'm going to turn this over to Mark Ackerman, he's going to give a presentation of the plan and the details of what you're considering.

2:52

Thank you, Frank.

2:54

So bringing to you today are the updates for the current adopted access management plan.

3:03

Uh, if adopted, this will replace the existing access management plan that we have on record.

3:11

So that is what our request is.

3:13

Uh this uh presentation is for your consideration for a future commission meeting at which we can present uh an updated access management plan for the BBE2 from I-10 to I-65 for your consideration and vote.

3:29

So for support of this adoption, what is this uh updated access management plan achieve?

3:35

It aligns our access policy with the planned roadway design.

3:40

Uh we've updated some design prior uh criteria for this roadway.

3:44

This previous design is over 12 years old, so there's some new design criteria that we have today that that uh this policy will align with.

3:55

It provides clear and consistent standards for future access.

3:58

So this is going to be well-defined criteria for anybody who is looking to connect to the future BBE2.

4:08

And then most importantly, this will reduce the potential for conflict points along this almost 25 mile route.

4:16

And this by adopting this policy, we believe it will protect the county's long-term investment in this corridor, and it will preserve the intent of this corridor and how it should function.

4:31

So the corridor is planned to function as a controlled access high-speed arterial.

4:35

Now, arterials are our largest roadway networks in Baldwin County.

4:39

These are our highway 59s or 181s or 161s, 180.

4:44

So the beach express phase one are all high-speed arterials.

4:48

We want to continue that design criteria for this second phase.

5:04

And we're going to do that by limiting and managing any kind of at grade access.

5:11

So here is the proposed BBE2 corridor.

5:15

And you'll see on the on the southern end, it starts at I-10.

5:18

There's truck trail 17 along the routes to cross County Road 112, US 31, and ultimately ends up in uh I-65 on the back side of Novellus.

5:31

So it will connect the BBE to I-65.

5:34

It is 25 miles, multi-lane divided highway, and it connects three U.S.

5:40

routes that I just described.

5:42

And this is designed to relieve congestion, support emergency evacuations, and meets our strategic goals for infrastructure.

5:52

So how is access to be provided in this proposed plan?

5:56

Grade separated interchanges at designated locations.

6:01

So what that means is we're going to have any time there's an interchange, it'll be elevated.

6:07

So you will not have a direct conflict with your north and southbound traffic.

6:10

Think of an interstate interchange.

6:13

Ride in and right out access to adjacent properties along the route.

6:17

We've got a lot of lot of large tracts of land that are logged that have access that need access in the future, and this will be accomplished through ride in and ride out.

6:26

Limited and managed at grade access.

6:29

We will only have one at grade access.

6:32

So this is the updated AMP map that's in the document itself.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Transportation Safety█████████████████████████████████████████████49%
Engineering And Infrastructure█████████████████████████████32%
Procedural█████████████14%
Public Engagement█████5%
Summary of Proceedings

Baldwin County Commission Road and Bridge Meeting - February 13, 2026

The Baldwin County Commission Road and Bridge Committee met on February 13, 2026, to discuss and consider a proposed updated Access Management Plan for the Baldwin Beach Express 2 (BBE2) corridor from I-10 to I-65. The meeting opened with a prayer and approval of previous minutes. The primary agenda item was a presentation by County Engineer Frank Lundy and Mark Ackerman, who detailed the proposed plan aimed at replacing the existing restrictive policy to reduce costs, provide reasonable property access, and improve safety. The committee voted to forward the plan to the full commission for consideration at a future meeting.

Consent Calendar

  • Approval of Minutes: The minutes from the July 18, 2024, Road and Bridge meeting were adopted unanimously via voice vote on a motion by Commissioner Gruber and second by Commissioner Ball.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Clue Smith (26230 County Road 69): Inquired about the planned speed limit for BBE2, which was stated as likely 55 mph posted with a 65 mph design speed. He also expressed concern about U-turn design based on a slide, and was assured that U-turns would serve both directions at each location.
  • Rick Hale (County Road 71 26259): Raised concerns about the Bucky's gas station intersection at I-10 becoming a severe choke point for future traffic, including truck traffic to the industrial park in Loxley. He urged proactive management. Commissioner and staff acknowledged ongoing coordination with ALDOT, the City of Loxley, and Bucky's management to address the congestion issues separate from this plan.

Discussion Items

  • Proposed Access Management Plan for Baldwin Beach Express 2 (BBE2): Mark Ackerman presented the plan, which replaces the current overly restrictive adopted AMP from over 12 years ago. The plan aims to:
    • Provide grade-separated interchanges at I-10, Truck Trail 17, County Road 112, US 31, Novellus, and I-65.
    • Include one signalized at-grade intersection at County Road 68 (north of I-10).
    • Implement directional median U-turns with deceleration and acceleration lanes.
    • Provide property access via right-in/right-out with a minimum throat length of 300 feet.
    • Eliminate unmanaged at-grade interchanges that cause conflict points.
    • Reduce right-of-way acquisition costs by an estimated $1.5 million in the first two miles alone due to less restrictive access.
    • The corridor is a 25-mile multilane divided highway designed as a controlled-access high-speed arterial.
    • The plan preserves reasonable access to adjacent properties and aligns with current design criteria.
  • Commissioner Questions:
    • Commissioner asked about typical right-of-way width (approx. 200 feet, widening at median U-turns and bridges).
    • Clarified that unlike Phase 1 (private median ownership from donated right-of-way), BBE2 right-of-way will be owned solely by the county.
    • Discussion about differences from Phase 1’s shoestring budget and meandering alignment.
    • Commissioner Gruber noted that Phase 1 land was 100% donated; for BBE2, there are no donors, making cost reduction important.
  • Project Timeline and Funding: Frank Lundy explained that right-of-way acquisition is underway for the southernmost two miles (I-10 to Styx River). The northern segment (US 31 to I-65) is in design with federal coordination. The rest of the corridor has no funding yet and will proceed in phases over multiple years. The Novellus interchange will be a flyover with six lanes (including truck lanes) from I-65 to Novellus, then four lanes south.

Key Outcomes

  • Vote and Decision: The committee voted to place the proposed Access Management Plan on the agenda of the next Baldwin County Commission meeting (referenced as January 20 in the transcript, pending confirmation) for a full presentation and public comment.
  • Next Steps: The plan will be formally presented to the full commission for adoption. If adopted, it will immediately reduce right-of-way costs and set clear access standards for the BBE2 corridor.

Note: The meeting date in the transcript references a January date, but the provided timestamp indicates the meeting occurred on February 13, 2026. Outcomes are recorded as presented.

Meeting Transcript

We'll go ahead and get this meeting started. So good morning, everyone. Welcome to the um the Baldwin County Commission Road and Bridge meeting. This is first one we've had in a while, but glad you all are here early on a nice cool crisp January morning. Um I have asked Commissioner Gruber if he will lead us in the invitation, followed by that. Commissioner Ball will lead us in the pledge. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for allowing us to be here today to do the business of the county and to look over for the road and bridge uh committee. We want to make our roads as safe as possible whenever we can and always will. But please watch over each and every one of our employees and watch over all of our first responders, our men and women who serve uh in our you know forces uh today, and uh also please guide us in helping us do the right thing for this uh access management plan in God's name we pray, amen. Remember joining for the play. Congratulations to the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God and the visible to you, Justice Friday. Thank you. The first item of business on our agenda is the adoption of the July 18th, 2024 road and bridge meeting minutes. I believe all of you guys were here. So uh if you've read the minutes, have no additions or deletions. I would entertain a motion to approve. So moved, second. All right, we have a motion by Commissioner Gruber and seconded by Commissioner Ball. All those in favor signify by saying aye. In order to expedite this meeting, I'm just going to yield the floor to our county engineer Frank Lundy and let him lead us through items two through four. All right, thank you, madam chairman. Um we have none to cover that hadn't already been covered in the adoption of the previous meeting minutes. So we will be moving along to new business, which is the Baldwin Beach Express 2 proposed access management plan. I'm going to turn this over to Mark Ackerman, he's going to give a presentation of the plan and the details of what you're considering. Thank you, Frank. So bringing to you today are the updates for the current adopted access management plan. Uh, if adopted, this will replace the existing access management plan that we have on record. So that is what our request is. Uh this uh presentation is for your consideration for a future commission meeting at which we can present uh an updated access management plan for the BBE2 from I-10 to I-65 for your consideration and vote. So for support of this adoption, what is this uh updated access management plan achieve? It aligns our access policy with the planned roadway design. Uh we've updated some design prior uh criteria for this roadway. This previous design is over 12 years old, so there's some new design criteria that we have today that that uh this policy will align with. It provides clear and consistent standards for future access. So this is going to be well-defined criteria for anybody who is looking to connect to the future BBE2. And then most importantly, this will reduce the potential for conflict points along this almost 25 mile route. And this by adopting this policy, we believe it will protect the county's long-term investment in this corridor, and it will preserve the intent of this corridor and how it should function. So the corridor is planned to function as a controlled access high-speed arterial. Now, arterials are our largest roadway networks in Baldwin County. These are our highway 59s or 181s or 161s, 180. So the beach express phase one are all high-speed arterials. We want to continue that design criteria for this second phase. And we're going to do that by limiting and managing any kind of at grade access. So here is the proposed BBE2 corridor. And you'll see on the on the southern end, it starts at I-10. There's truck trail 17 along the routes to cross County Road 112, US 31, and ultimately ends up in uh I-65 on the back side of Novellus. So it will connect the BBE to I-65. It is 25 miles, multi-lane divided highway, and it connects three U.S. routes that I just described. And this is designed to relieve congestion, support emergency evacuations, and meets our strategic goals for infrastructure.

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