Businesses and residents along the Foley Beach Express can continue using the familiar roadway name in their addresses, even after the route received a new state designation.
The Foley City Council has voted to retain “Foley Beach Express” as the official roadway name within city limits. While the highway was transferred to the Alabama Department of Transportation in 2025 and designated as Alabama 161, local addresses will not be required to change.
City Engineer Taylor Davis said the city worked closely with the county E-911 system to ensure the Beach Express name remains valid for addressing purposes. He noted that several major routes in Foley carry both state and local names, including Alabama 59 (McKenzie Street) and U.S. 98 (Laurel Avenue).
Davis said keeping the original name preserves both practicality and local identity.
“We don’t want to have to restructure all those to say State Route 161,” Davis said. “We don’t want to lose the cultural and historical impact of what that road meant and what previous councils have put into that road and commitments that were made. This is a road that we have put a lot into. We’ve seen traffic quadruple over the last couple of decades. I think it’s a testament to the construction and the long-term durability of that road.”
Mayor Ralph Hellmich said the decision also helps reduce costs for property owners along the corridor.
“It’s another way that Foley supports businesses,” Hellmich said. “Requiring addresses to be changed would have cost people up and down that road a lot of money for things like letterheads and signs. It’s a way of retaining continuity, and thankfully the state is letting us do that.”
The Foley Beach Express first opened in 2000, connecting Alabama 59 in north Foley to what was then a private toll bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway in Orange Beach. The route was later extended north to Interstate 10 in 2014 as the Baldwin Beach Express.
In 2024, the state assumed ownership of the toll bridge and eliminated tolls. Prior to transferring the roadway to the state in 2025, the City of Foley completed resurfacing and widening projects along its portion of the Beach Express through a combination of safety grants, city funding and partnerships with ALDOT. Baldwin County also transferred its portion of the Baldwin Beach Express to the state.
Today, the full corridor from Interstate 10 to Orange Beach carries the state designation Alabama 161, while continuing to be known locally as the Foley Beach Express and Baldwin Beach Express.