Public-Private Partnership To Revitalize Mobile Midtown Underpass

Nonprofit Community of Mobile, Inc. is partnering with the City of Mobile and Alabama Export Railroad to improve the Midtown underpass on Old Shell Road. This project will include improved landscaping and hardscaping, new green plantings, sidewalks, a built-in sprinkler system and improved LED lighting. The concrete support pillars of the overpass will also be thoroughly cleaned. Community of Mobile started the initiative to beautify the highly trafficked area after its founding in 2021 and has raised more than $300,000 from local foundations, corporations and individuals to support it. The Mobile Area Water and Sewer System is making in-kind contributions, including drainage improvements. During its meeting on May 28, the Mobile City Council unanimously approved a $250,000 allocation toward the project. In addition to a significant portion of the $478,000 construction costs, Community of Mobile has raised an additional $64,000, which will go toward an endowment fund for recurring maintenance and future additions to the underpass. Work is scheduled to begin on June 3, and Old Shell Road will be closed at the railroad overpass between LeFevre Street and Union Avenue for approximately two months, after which construction is to be substantially complete.