East 29th Avenue reopened on the night of September 30, after crews finished the asphalt work for the intersection upgrade. If you drive that way, you've probably already seen the change. What's easier to miss is the schedule behind it. The car projects in Gulf Shores are close to done. The projects built for people on foot, in kayaks and on swings have all moved past New Year's.
Most of the money is coming from the same place. The biggest public projects in town are funded by restoration programs created after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, not the city's general budget. The one big project paid for locally is also the one the city chose to delay, so it could stay open for children over the holidays.
The road side: Waterway East and the Commerce connection
Waterway East is the extension the city has been building north of the Intracoastal Waterway to connect with ALDOT's new SR-161 road and bridge. On September 24 the city said both phases were complete. Phase 1 extended the roadway from E. 2nd Street to the edge of ALDOT's right-of-way. Phase 2 connected Waterway East to Alabama Beaches Parkway, the southbound side of SR-161, north of the new bridge.
The road isn't open yet because the city plans to open the whole stretch at once. According to the city's September 24 update, the work goes in this order:
- Finish the intersection upgrades on E. 29th Avenue. That's done, with the road reopened September 30.
- Build the Commerce Street connection, which the city's October 1 update calls the Commerce Drive Connector. Crews are working on it now.
- Resurface all three roads and finish the striping.
- Open the entire stretch, which the city expects by the end of the year.
The city says a RESTORE grant covers all construction costs on Waterway East. RESTORE is one of the federal programs paying out Deepwater Horizon penalty money to the Gulf states. That makes it the first of several projects on this list tied to the spill.
The walking side: the pedestrian bridge and Waterway Village
The pedestrian bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway is the most visible project in town right now. It's also the furthest from done. The city's September 25 Waterway Village update says the towers are rising quickly and the bridge is on track to open in spring 2027.
The bridge is one piece of a larger plan. The same update says the city is designing pedestrian plazas and wants those plaza parks to open about when the bridge does. It also lays out a next phase along East 2nd Street in the Gulf Pines area:
- Full roadway reconstruction between East 22nd Avenue and East 23rd Avenue
- New on-street parking and wider sidewalks
- Stormwater system upgrades
- Landscaping, lighting, irrigation, benches and planters in two sections: East 22nd to East 24th Avenue south of the bridge, and East 25th Avenue to Waterway East Boulevard north of it
The city says the Gulf Pines plans are waiting on RESTORE funding approval, which it expects to take about six months. The city has framed the whole effort as making Waterway Village "a safer, more walkable and connected district." The road connections come first. The sidewalks, plazas and bridge that make the area walkable come after them, and part of that schedule depends on a grant decision.
The paddling side: Laguna Cove Nature Park
At the west end of town, Laguna Cove Nature Park is running on a similar timeline. It's a 53-acre conservation and passive recreation park along the south shore of Little Lagoon, near the end of West Beach Boulevard. The city bought the undeveloped property in 2019 with $4.4 million in Natural Resource Damage Assessment funding from the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. The land includes 6,100 feet of shoreline, wetlands and secondary dunes. Total funding for buying, designing, building and restoring the park has reached $6.4 million.
The reports disagree on when it opens. The city's August 6 update said the eastern boardwalk was nearly finished, and WKRG passed along the city's fall 2026 target. Two weeks later, Gulf Coast Media reported the project was about 50% complete. Dan Bond, the city's director of natural resources, told the paper he expected it to open in early 2027. Bond's estimate is the newer one, so I'd plan on 2027 and treat anything sooner as a bonus.
Bond also told Gulf Coast Media where the money came from:
"These NRDA funds came out of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and are a great example of using funding from the oil spill to restore and protect critical habitat along the Gulf coast."
In the same report, he listed the planned recreation as a kayak launch, birding trails, wetland boardwalks and shade pavilions. Of the 53 acres, 51 are to be restored and preserved. Osprey nests and sand fencing are part of the habitat work.
For Little Lagoon regulars, one practical detail stands out. The site plan city staff reviewed in 2022 showed 27 parking spaces, a restroom, one pavilion and a kayak launch reached by a paved drive. It had a single entrance off West Beach Boulevard, and the park would be gated after dark. That plan is a few years old, but 27 spaces for 53 acres and a kayak launch is a small lot. On a calm Saturday morning, early arrivals will have the easiest time parking.
The playground side: Kids Park, funded locally and deliberately delayed
Kids Park is the exception to the spill-money pattern, and its timing was a choice. The original playground was built in 1996. At its September 28 meeting, the City Council approved a replacement design by Leathers and Associates, which the city says was shaped by input from Gulf Shores families, students and community members.
Here's what's changing, according to the city's October 5 announcement:
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Play surface | Engineered wood fiber combined with artificial turf |
| Structure material | Mostly recycled plastic lumber, expected to last at least 30 years |
| Budget | $950,000 in the 2026 Capital Budget plus $150,000 for the surfacing plan, for $1.1 million total |
| Construction start | Early 2027 |
| Current playground | Open through Christmas break |
The city's own wording on the delay is that construction "will shift to early 2027" so residents can keep using the existing playground through Christmas break. The other projects slipped into 2027 because of grants and construction schedules. This one was pushed back on purpose, so kids get one more holiday season on the 1996 playground before it comes down.
What's already open while the rest catches up
Some new places are open now. Gulf State Park's new RV resort opened May 11, 2026, on the former golf course. It has 103 campsites, a clubhouse, a pool and splash pad, an accessible playground, pavilions and trails. If you haven't been out that way since the golf course closed, it's worth a drive just to see how the land is being used. The Outdoor Alabama announcement has the full list of amenities.
On the public safety side, the city held a ribbon cutting September 22 for its new Fire Training Facility. It has structures for live burns, tower work, trench rescue and confined-space training. You won't use it yourself, but the smoke you might see from that side of town is now planned training.
November still runs on the familiar map
The next two months happen in places locals already know. The bridge plazas and the Laguna Cove boardwalks won't host anything this season, so November's biggest weekend lands in the usual spots:
- Frank Brown International Songwriters' Festival, November 5 through 15. Shows run at venues along the Alabama and Florida Gulf Coast. Details are on the festival listing.
- Experience the Oyster at The Hangout, November 6 and 7. See the event page.
- Coastal Alabama Food Truck & Craft Beer Festival, November 7 and 8. It's in the Town Green area, and general admission is free. Here's the festival listing.
That first full weekend of November overlaps all three, and Saturday, November 7 has the oyster event, the food truck festival and the songwriters' festival on the same day. If you have guests coming in, that's the weekend to plan around. It's also one of the last busy weekends before the Commerce connection should be finished and Waterway East opens at the end of the year.
The spring after that is when most of these changes show up together. The pedestrian bridge and the Waterway Village plazas are aimed at spring 2027, the latest estimate for Laguna Cove is early 2027, and Kids Park construction starts early that year.
If you're wondering how Waterway East, the bridge or Laguna Cove will change things on your street or around a property you own, call me. I'm glad to go through what the city has posted and what it could mean for your corner of town. You can reach me through Robin Roberts, and I answer my phone.
