ROBERTSDALE, Ala. — It’s a 24.5 mile lifeline for new commerce, and an escape route for people along the Alabama Gulf Coast, officials said March 30.

The $150 million project, an extension of County Road 83, dubbed the “Beach Express II,” will link the existing Foley Beach Express with Interstate 10 and 65, and provide a direct link to the proposed HK Motors “Megasite” in Bay Minette.

The project, which may be a toll road in parts (County officials are still investigating that) will skirt the easternmost borders of Robertsdale and Loxley. The road will be “limited access,” and over time, interchanges will be built where it crosses existing roads so traffic on the new “Beach Express” will not be impeded. For now, traffic on the roads that will cross the “Beach Express II” will have stop signs.

“We have gridlock during some months,” said Robertsdale Mayor Charles Murphy, a champion of the plan.

“This should not hurt our downtown businesses,” added Murphy, who added that some have complained that they can not reach the business downtown on summer weekends because of the traffic.

“Baldwin County has been looking at this for several years,” said Charles “Skip” Gruber, the chair of the Baldwin County Commission.

The road will be done in sections, with the section from County Road 64 to U.S. Highway 90 done first. Then a section from Highway 90 to County Road 32 will be built and then to I-10 and I-65. The county will be accepting bids for the work in the next few months, after it gets final clearance from the Army Corps of Engineers and other groups.

The route marks a victory for many in Baldwin County. The state had originally proposed a route that would have been to the east, near the Florida border.

“ALDOT had meetings in Foley and Bay Minette,” said Vince Calametti, division engineer for the Alabama Department of Transportation. He said the result of those meetings was great support for the County Road 83 plan. He added that the Army Corps of Engineers and environmental groups supported the County Road 83 project, leading the agency to revise its plans.

The new route follows a natural ridge, said Cal Markert, the Chief Engineer for Baldwin County, making it more weather-resistant. While the northern stretch will have more curves than an engineer would like, the road follows the natural topography and avoids wetlands.

The road may be a toll road both ways, Markert said, with a toll plaza near the County Road 32 connection. The tolls would be needed if state, local and federal money cannot be found for the project. Bonds would be sold to investors to be repaid with toll revenue.

“I feel like the luckiest engineer in the world to be working on it,” said Markert.