With funding secured, city officials now are taking steps to receive authorization to proceed with plans to renovate the historic Highway 82 bridge across the Tombigbee River into a pedestrian walkway.
Officials last week received formal notice the Mississippi Department of Transportation awarded the city $2 million for the project; the city, county and Columbus Convention and Visitors Bureau are paying the required 20-percent match on the grant.
The Columbus City Council, the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors and the CVB board earlier voted for each entity to pay a third of the $400,000 match or about $133,333 each.
The city, which is the lead agency on the project, now must secure authorization to proceed through MDOT”s Local Public Agency.
A project engineer then will be selected by the city, said City Engineer Kevin Stafford, noting designs still are pending. The bridge will tie into the Columbus Riverwalk, serve as an “additional park area” and be restored to resemble the original bridge design, he said.
Officials expect to have a contractor this year, and the bridge is expected to be completed by the spring, although the completion date could change, Stafford said.
“I think it needs to stay as rustic as it can,” Board President and District 1 Supervisor Harry Sanders suggested of the design of the bridge. “It needs to be updated to be safe, so people can walk on it. I don”t think we need cages on it, to keep people from falling off. It needs to be as original as it could be, but still rustic, in a way.”
Officials envision the restoration of the bridge, into a pedestrian walkway, as bringing greater development to the island area to which the bridge leads.
“It could potentially lead to the development of the island, with a park along the river,” Sanders said, noting the county owns about seven acres, on the south side of the bridge, which could be developed into a park. “It could also lead to the development of riverfront condominiums on the island, where (residents) could potentially walk to town, to the riverwalk, to the Burns Bottom soccer complex. Primarily, it could lead to the development of the island, with maybe possibly some restaurants and entertainment.”
“I think the historical aspect of the bridge needs to be brought out,” said Ward 5 Councilman Kabir Karriem, also suggesting “creation of an entertainment district that could be real good in developing the island.”
“That could be one idea tossed around and developed into something really big, that might even lead into a new convention center,” he explained of the entertainment district. “That”s something I really hope to get accomplished this tenure, if we could find the money to do it.”
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