FOLEY – The Foley Beach Express is now part of the Alabama highway system following an agreement between the city and the Alabama Department of Transportation.
ALDOT assumed responsibility for the roadway after the completion of a series of improvements carried out by the city and state. Those upgrades included adding safety lanes along the highway shoulders and repaving the stretch from Alabama 59 to Baldwin County 12. The Foley City Council approved the project in 2023.
The transfer agreement was finalized in 2024 after ALDOT purchased the former privately owned toll bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway at the southern end of the Beach Express. Under the agreement, the state will now oversee all future maintenance and repairs on the entire highway.
As part of the transfer, ALDOT also acquired the section previously maintained by Baldwin County, known as the Baldwin Beach Express, which runs from Interstate 10 south into Foley. The full route, extending from I-10 to the Intracoastal Waterway, will be designated Alabama Highway 161.
Within Foley, the roadway will continue to be recognized as the Foley Beach Express for addressing and local use.