Joel Daves was on the Mobile City Council when, four years and six months ago, he was the sole “No” vote on a three-year, $3.048 million funding agreement to support Amtrak’s return to the Gulf Coast.
Over the ensuing years, Daves continued to oppose the Amtrak project, citing concerns over what it could do with interfering with the Port of Mobile’s rail business. He blasted the proposed Amtrak route as a “joyride for the affluent,” was quoted in The New York Times, and testified before the U.S. Surface Transportation Board against the project.
Fast forward to Tuesday and Daves, with similar concerns he has long held, flipped his vote in support of the funding agreement.
What changed?
A $550 million federal grant to support the Interstate 10 Mobile River Bridge and Bayway project played a role.
“I thought it was an olive branch to us and put it on us to reciprocate in some way,” Daves told AL.com Tuesday after the council unanimously approved all agreements needed for a twice-daily Amtrak service to begin next spring connecting Mobile to New Orleans.
“Right now, there is nothing more important to the City of Mobile than the construction of the bridge and the new Bayway and the reason it’s important is it’s vitally important to the Port and the Port is vitally important to us,” Daves said. “It pushed me over the edge (in support of the funding agreement).”
Bridge impact
Mobile’s funding obligation might not exceed $1 million over the next three years. The Port Authority agreed to offset the city’s obligation by dedicating $1 million to support the train’s operations in 2025, 2026, and 2027. The State of Alabama is also expected to dedicate $1 million over three years to back the train’s operations.
Councilman Ben Reynolds said that by voting against the funding agreement, it would have represented a “bad way of governing” after the U.S. Department of Transportation, last month, announced the I-10 project was getting $550 million through the agency’s Bridge Investment Program.
The $550 million grant is considered one of the largest federal grants to support an infrastructure project in Alabama’s history.
More money will be needed. The new six-lane, 215-foot-tall cable-stay bridge in downtown Mobile and the reconstruction of a new, 7-1/2-mile elevated Bayway to withstand powerful hurricanes, is expected to cost $3.5 billion.
The project is viewed as the most expensive in Alabama history, and state officials are continuing to pursue more federal grant funding opportunities.
“We are trying to illustrate our problems to the federal government to get this money down here not just for the bridge, but also federal programs such as resurfacing the interstates, and a whole slew of things we need federal government support on,” Reynolds said. “It would be questionable on whether or not we want to tell them ‘No, we are not doing (the Amtrak project)’ and put these bigger projects potentially at risk.”
No quid pro quo
Daves and Reynolds were both adamant, however, in that there was no quid pro quo over Mobile’s Amtrak vote with federal transportation officials.
But both council members acknowledged how Amtrak expansion is a priority for the current U.S. DOT under President Joe Biden, who once had the nickname “Amtrak Joe” and who was a frequent user of the train service when he was a U.S. Senator from Delaware.
The I-10 Mobile River Bridge and Bayway project was selected to receive the grant money through a grant program created under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) – long called the “bipartisan infrastructure law” that has become a signature policy achievement of Biden’s administration.
The same piece of legislation included $66 billion toward modernizing the county’s rail infrastructure and is viewed as a catalyst toward expanding Amtrak’s network.
“I am not aware of any quid pro quo,” Daves said. “But it’s the same people making the decision on that funding for the bridge and additional funding for the bridge who are vitally interest in the restoration of this rail link. It behooves us to stay on their good side. But I want to emphasize, I know of no quid pro quo.”
The Federal Highway Administration also acknowledged to AL.com that the two projects are separate and unrelated.
The I-10 Mobile River Bridge and Bayway project was selected to receive the grant money because its application met merit criteria, economic analysis, and project readiness requirements outlined in a Notice of Funding Opportunity posting by the U.S. DOT.
Said Reynolds, “It was never put forward to me as a quid pro quo, per se. But this goes a long way in letting (federal highway officials) and other federal agencies know that we appreciate the work they do and do our very best to support them when we can.”
