Battleship Parkway, commonly referred to locally and in the media as the "Causeway", is an elevated 7 miles (11.3 km) long causeway

Causeway

In modern usage, a causeway is a road or railway elevated, usually across a broad body of water or wetland.- Etymology :When first used, the word appeared in a form such as “causey way” making clear its derivation from the earlier form “causey”. This word seems to have come from the same source by...

 that carries US 90 and US 98 eastbound across Mobile Bay

Mobile Bay

Mobile Bay is an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico, lying within the state of Alabama in the United States. Its mouth is formed by the Fort Morgan Peninsula on the eastern side and Dauphin Island, a barrier island on the western side. The Mobile River and Tensaw River empty into the northern end of the...

 from the Bankhead Tunnel

Bankhead Tunnel

The Bankhead Tunnel is a tunnel in Mobile, Alabama that begins on Government Street in downtown Mobile, travels eastbound under the Mobile River, and emerges to join the Battleship Parkway....

 in Mobile, Alabama

Mobile, Alabama

Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...

 to Spanish Fort, Alabama

Spanish Fort, Alabama

Spanish Fort is a suburb of Mobile, Alabama in Baldwin County, Alabama, United States, located on the eastern shore of Mobile Bay. The 2000 census lists the population of the city as 5,423. It is part of the Daphne-Fairhope-Foley micropolitan area....

. The roadway itself is a four-lane divided highway for most of its length. It is very susceptible to flooding and is usually submerged during hurricane storm surge

Storm surge

A storm surge is an offshore rise of water associated with a low pressure weather system, typically tropical cyclones and strong extratropical cyclones. Storm surges are caused primarily by high winds pushing on the ocean's surface. The wind causes the water to pile up higher than the ordinary sea...

s. The Battleship Parkway is home to Battleship Memorial Park

Battleship Memorial Park

Battleship Memorial Park is a military history park and museum located on the western shore of Mobile Bay in Mobile, Alabama. It has a collection of notable aircraft and museum ships including the South Dakota-class battleship USS Alabama and Gato-class submarine USS Drum...

 and to many of the Mobile area's more prominent seafood restaurants.

History

It was constructed in 1926 as a series of raised earthen embankments

Embankment (transportation)

To keep a road or railway line straight or flat, and where the comparative cost or practicality of alternate solutions is prohibitive, the land over which the road or rail line will travel is built up to form an embankment. An embankment is therefore in some sense the opposite of a cutting, and...

 and concrete bridge

Bridge

A bridge is a structure built to span physical obstacles such as a body of water, valley, or road, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle...

s. It was the only road connection between Mobile

Mobile County, Alabama

Mobile County[p] is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama. Its name is in honor of a tribe of Indians, the Maubila tribe . As of 2011, its population was 415,704. Its county seat is Mobile, Alabama...

 and Baldwin

Baldwin County, Alabama

-2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:*85.7% White*9.4% Black*0.7% Native American*0.7% Asian*0.0% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander*1.5% Two or more races*4.4% Hispanic or Latino -2000:...

 counties over Mobile Bay until the construction of the nearby Jubilee Parkway

Jubilee Parkway

The Jubilee Parkway is a pair of parallel concrete viaduct bridges that carry Interstate 10 across Mobile Bay from the George Wallace Tunnel in Mobile, Alabama eastbound to Spanish Fort/Daphne, Alabama. The bridges are similar in design to the I-10 Twin Span Bridge near New Orleans, Louisiana. Each...

in 1978.