BAY MINETTE, Ala. — Baldwin County and County Engineer Cal Markert have been awarded the John F. Courson Excellence in County Engineering Award sponsored by the Association of County Engineers of Alabama for the County Road 13 Corridor Project.

Baldwin County’s project was chosen out of all the counties in Alabama as the award recipient due to the unique and innovative engineering.

The County Road 13 Corridor project began in the early 1990s, working with various agencies to secure the property right-of-ways and construction plans to create the North/South route that would link nearly every community along the Easter Shore.

By 2006, approximately one year after Markert began working on the project, Baldwin County acquired the last remaining tract of right-of-way which crossed Fly Creek, one of the most environmentally sensitive watersheds and wetland areas in the county.

Construction began in 2008. The 780-foot-long Judge Harry Wilters Jr. Bridge over Fly Creek and 2.9 miles of newly constructed roadway completed the County Road 13 corridor. This section of the project was completed with extensive, advanced environmental protection measures, some of the first of its kind in the state, that were incorporated into its construction.

In 2010, the County Road 13 corridor opened to connect U.S. 98 near Barnwell to U.S. 90 in Daphne. The road provides Eastern Shore residents traveling north or south an alternative route for both U.S. 98 and Alabama Highway 181. The corridor serves several thousand vehicles per day all while maintaining the protection of the Fly Creek watershed and wetlands.