The heavily traveled bridge on Old West Point Road just south of Garrard Road is old and eroding, and the guardrails are so close to the intersection that drivers have hit them repeatedly.
The only solution for an “unsafe” bridge like this one is to replace it, Starkville Mayor Lynn Spruill said.
“Bridges have a life, and this one is near the end of its life,” she said. “It’s a health, safety and welfare matter for the public.”
The city received $1.34 million from the state to build a new bridge just south of its current location, and the project can proceed once the city obtains permanent easements from two property owners along Old West Point Road. One is willing to grant an easement, but the other is not.
Joyce Cockrell, a resident of Trotter Lane, declined to comment to The Dispatch Thursday on why she would not grant the city a permanent easement.
The board of aldermen voted unanimously Tuesday to proceed with “quick take” legal action, similar to eminent domain, which would allow the city to obtain the needed right-of-way through Oktibbeha County Chancery Court.
City attorney Chris Latimer will file the suit within the next two weeks and said Tuesday he is confident it will succeed.
The other easement will come from the owners of the Parker-McGill car dealership along Highway 12, and City Engineer Edward Kemp said they have been willing to work with the city.
A permanent easement, rather than a temporary one, will allow the city to repair and maintain the new bridge in the future if need be, Kemp said.
The funding for the project comes from the Emergency Road and Bridge Repair Fund within the Mississippi Department of Transportation. The city has until the summer of 2021 to put forth a construction contract for the project or the funding will expire.
A quick-take action should have the city the needed easement within 90 days. But on Tuesday, Latimer said even the longer eminent domain process should still be complete by the summer deadline.
The creek under the bridge takes a sharp 90-degree turn that has caused the erosion, Kemp said, so construction crews will reroute the creek slightly while building the new bridge. The opening under the new bridge will also be larger than the current one to accommodate more water flow in case of severe storms, he said.
The project might not have been an option for the city without state funding, Kemp said.
“A project of that magnitude is very difficult for us to do within our current infrastructure budget,” he said. “We don’t want to miss this opportunity to utilize this funding to replace a substandard bridge on one of our major corridors.”
Tess Vrbin was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 43 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
