Mobile Development Thread - Page 272

elb401 · #**5421** Posted **May 11, 2011, 1:58 PM**

I don't know if it will ever get "fixed". Besides the traffic isn't as bad as it could be. Have any of ya'll ever lived in Tampa or Nashville..... that is real traffic. I just don't think it can be fixed without either spending hundreds of millions of dollars and killing the businesses along the route.

I think the top 7 worst streets in the Mobile area are:

1) Airport....from I-65 to Snow (yes it is bad....for a city the size of Mobile)
2) Shillinger Road......from Moffet to Grelot
3) US 98 on the Eastern Shore (from Spanish Fort to Point Clear)
4) Highway 59....from Robertsdale south all the way through Gulf Shores
5) Cottage Hill (I65 to Shillinger road)
6) Moffet Road....from I-65 to Snow Road
7) Maybe Hillcrest....from Airport to Grelot Road

Electrical Porpoise · #**5422** Posted **May 11, 2011, 6:24 PM**

There are a few places that arent bad all day, but during rush hour are as bad (if not worse) than some of the aforementioned places. For example: Spring Hill Ave. around I65 is terrible. Dauphin at I65 around lunch isnt too fun either.

Canal near the Beach Express in Orange Beach during a holiday weekend is easily the worst though.

elb401 · #**5423** Posted **May 11, 2011, 7:23 PM**

Yeah I would agree.

Port_of_Bama · #**5424** Posted **May 18, 2011, 10:34 PM**

Quote:

MOBILE, Ala. -- The Mobile City Council on Tuesday agreed to spend $135,000 in support of a series of boxing events in the city, but the decision was made only after a protracted discussion on how much to give.
Bud Ratliff, director of the Mobile Sports Authority, which recruited the events, said they could have a collective economic impact on the city of more than $4 million.
Held later this summer, they will include the U.S. Olympic Trials, the Junior Nationals and a meeting of the U.S.A Boxing National Committee.
In addition to the city’s contribution, the event is being supported by a $200,000 grant from oil company BP PLC through the Alabama Coastal Development Committee.
Also, the Sports Authority, which is funded mostly through the Mobile County Commission, has pledged $50,0000.
Several council members, particularly Bess Rich, questioned why the city was being asked to shoulder such a large share of the bill.
If, in addition to the BP money, Ratliff needed a total of $135,000, and already had $50,000 from his own group, she asked, why wasn’t he asking for $85,000?
Ratliff said in an interview that the $50,000 from the Sports Authority is meant to be a cushion. Having never managed such an event, he said, he’s trying to be as conservative as possible.
The city has said that it won’t waive the rental fee for the event’s use of the Civic Center, projected to be right around $50,000.

http://blog.al.com/live/2011/05/after_protracted_discussion_mo.html

I think the money could also be used to update the interior of the Civic Center.

elb401 · #**5425** Posted **May 21, 2011, 11:21 PM**

A Civic Center renovation would cost between $800,000 and $1.5 million, if not more. i kind of like the idea of tearing it down. But then we would have to find a new home for the Ballet and Opera.

Port_of_Bama · #**5426** Posted **Jun 8, 2011, 3:32 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by elb401

A Civic Center renovation would cost between $800,000 and $1.5 million, if not more. i kind of like the idea of tearing it down. But then we would have to find a new home for the Ballet and Opera.

The Civic Center is owned by the city I think it would be better to update the dome exterior and interior parts as well.

Port_of_Bama · #**5427** Posted **Jun 8, 2011, 3:34 PM**

Quote:

Call her a newcomer, call her what you like, but Mobile Mayor Sam Jones has someone looking to take his office in 2013.

Dr. Doris J.W. Brown, 58, is originally from Harrison Township, Michigan and moved to Mobile in 2005. During her time in Michigan, Brown said, she worked as a public servant for 40 years. That tenure included serving as an appointee on the Wages and Deviation Board under then-Michigan Governor John Engler, she said. Since Brown moved to Mobile she says she’s seen the city rise and fall.

"I don’t need to be here another six years to see another 10 businesses leave town,” Brown said. "I want to run a simple campaign. I’m not here to slander anyone. This is a beautiful city and it needs to be looked at as a city of the future.”

Brown said she’s in the process of joining the local Republican Party and is filing all the necessary papers to officially start her campaign.

Brown currently works as a substitute teacher in the Mobile County Public School System.

She said she hopes to reduce taxes, encourage industrial growth and build strong schools.

http://www.lagniappemobile.com/article.asp?articleID=4547&sid=1

Port_of_Bama · #**5428** Posted **Jun 9, 2011, 2:28 PM**

Quote:

MOBILE, Alabama -- Investors are trying to start a company at Mobile’s Brookley Aeroplex that would build and repair gear drives and other components for wind turbines, ships and offshore oil and gas platforms.
The company, called PowAir International, proposes to invest $90 million, creating up to 340 jobs with average annual salaries around $60,000, it told the Mobile City Industrial Development Board.

http://blog.al.com/live/2011/06/startup_firm_powair_internatio.html

elb401 · #**5429** Posted **Jun 11, 2011, 12:27 PM**

I don't know if I will vote for her. I would like to see someone replace Sam. she is a substitute teacher and a former government official in Michigan. I don't know, Michigan isn't the model for economic prosperity. Also we don't need someone spreading fear and a message that Mobile is dying and she is the only one that can save us. I hope we have better options.

Thats nice about the plant, I hope it happens.

SouthSky · #**5430** Posted **Jun 20, 2011, 10:25 PM**

Airport Blvd proposals (and there are a lot of them)
Click Here
An animation of a single point interchange at Airport and McGregor is also on this page

SpawnOfVulcan · #**5431** Posted **Jun 22, 2011, 6:39 AM**

Hey, BTW, does anyone have any recent pictures of the GM Building? Ones most up to date. I notice we haven't spoken about it much, and I'd like to see how it looks now.

Electrical Porpoise · #**5432** Posted **Jun 22, 2011, 2:31 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by tredici

Hey, BTW, does anyone have any recent pictures of the GM Building? Ones most up to date. I notice we haven't spoken about it much, and I'd like to see how it looks now.

Ill try to get a picture during lunch. They have really been working on the bottom for a while, just making the structure look nicer.

NitekKetin · #**5433** Posted **Jun 23, 2011, 11:56 PM**

It would be a feat if the traffic engineers could transform some of Airport Boulevard's highly used intersections into interchanges.

SouthSky · #**5434** Posted **Jun 24, 2011, 3:53 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by NitekKetin

It would be a feat if the traffic engineers could transform some of Airport Boulevard's highly used intersections into interchanges.

It would be a feat if they transformed Airport Blvd while not creating the biggest traffic headaches in the history of man while under construction.

I have my doubts.

elb401 · #**5435** Posted **Jun 24, 2011, 4:51 PM**

I agree. Also you have to think about the businesses. Some may be cut off. I hate all the proposals at the loop. Most of them create an island between airport and government of one way traffic which severely hurts businesses. This will also cause a huge headache for residents that live near the area. Plus the proposals will allow for much higher speeds through this neighborhood and make it worse for pedestrians. The commercial area of the neighborhood isn't protected and it is losing its urban characteristics. It looks more and more sub-urban every few years. The community is trying to reestablish it and these plans would kill it. One day people will wake up and say I wish we didn’t do that. Look at downtown Robertsdale....that's how it's set up (a one way street island) and it’s a dead zone with cars going 50+ mph through it.

pkp · #**5436** Posted **Jun 26, 2011, 2:27 AM**

Haven't logged in for a while. Re airport blvd. Does it seem that our elected officials are worried more about getting people quickly in and out of Mobile (Baldwin, west mobile) than the people who actually live here?

elb401 · #**5437** Posted **Jun 26, 2011, 4:52 AM**

yeah. It seems like its been that way for a while. I am tired of our elected officials.

CottonCity251 · #**5438** Posted **Jun 27, 2011, 3:27 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by elb401

yeah. It seems like its been that way for a while. I am tired of our elected officials.

Me to... tired of all of them, from the state on down!! Mobile, Alabama rather, needs more young elected officials. Unfortunately with the ones now, little change happens.

Port_of_Bama · #**5439** Posted **Jun 27, 2011, 4:03 PM**

Quote:

"Current Alabama law says that casinos are illegal in Alabama," Jennifer Ardis, press secretary for Gov. Robert Bentley, said in an email. "Governor Bentley is not supportive of building casinos anywhere because they are illegal in the state."

Jay Dorris, president of Poarch Creek Indian Gaming, said that adding casino operations to the dog track remains a long-term goal for the tribe. But in light of the anti-gambling sentiment of Alabama leaders, Dorris said that the project it isn't any closer to happening.

"There's still got to be agreement with the governor. ... There's still got to be local support. There's still got to be a compact. So all those thresholds are still in place," Dorris said.

The tribe, which has a reservation in Atmore, purchased a controlling interest in Mobile Greyhound Park in 2009.

The Interior Department placed restrictions on off-reservation Indian casinos in 2008. But in a recent news release, the agency reversed course, saying that it would now consider allowing such casinosBut in a recent news release, the agency reversed course, saying that it would now consider allowing such casinos.

"The 2008 guidance memorandum was unnecessary and was issued without the benefit of tribal consultation," said Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk. "We will proceed to process off-reservation gaming applications in a transparent manner, consistent with existing law."

Dorris, speaking from Atmore, said he didn't believe that distance from the Poarch Creek reservation posed a significant obstacle to developing a casino at Mobile Greyhound Park. "Mobile from here is what, 40 minutes?" Dorris said. .

http://blog.al.com/live/2011/06/feds_ease_rules_for_off-reserv_1.html#comments

What do you guys think of this article? I believe there will be an over whelming amount of support for this.I wish they would purchase the GM&o building and turn it into a casino.

elb401 · #**5440** Posted **Jun 28, 2011, 3:53 AM**

Better yet.....the cruise terminal. they could just add to it and build a tower next to it that could add to the skyline a bit. Ahh, I'm just dreaming. That will never happen.