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Overall the highway is fairly safe, but problem areas involve the left-hand merge of Interstate 65 southbound onto Interstate 10 eastbound, and the narrowing of the freeway from eight lanes to four through the George C. Wallace Tunnel. The tunnel issue is currently being tackled by ALDOT with a proposal for a new high-level cable-stayed bridge over the Mobile River. The new span will carry six lanes and open sometime on or after 2012. The project will coincide with an eight-laning of the 8-mile Mobile Bayway. The causeway currently sees four lanes of traffic. While it flows fairly well right now, increasing congestion is likely due to development along the Mobile Bay Eastern Shore.
There are no prominent trouble spots outside of the eastbound portal to the George C. Wallace Tunnel and the Mobile Bayway. The Bayway flows, but the four-lane capacity is not going to cut it as Baldwin County continues to maintain itself as Alabama's fastest growing.
ALDOT stays up on top of the pavement of the Mobile and south Alabama area interstates for the most part. Repaving with asphalt saw completion on I-10 in 2001.
Highway sign lighting would help during the humid evenings where condensation distorts the sign reflectivity. Otherwise there are no signing issues that need to be addressed off hand.
Interstate 10 outside of Mobile is your typical rural southern Interstate flanked by stands of pine forest. The crossing over Mobile Bay is appealing, with views of the horizon to the south and marshland to the north. A surprisingly striking view of downtown Mobile is afforded to motorists just outside of the Wallace Tunnel west portal. Otherwise, I-10 through the city of Mobile leaves a lot to be desired, with declining industrial areas and working class neighborhoods fronting the freeway between downtown and Interstate 65. The freeway also sees minimal landscaping to add to its appeal.
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