Despite attempts from local officials to avoid temporarily closing the East Hardy Street bridge that connects Petal and Hattiesburg over the Leaf River, engineers have determined the bridge will indeed need to be closed for approximately two to three months for improvement projects.
Terri Bell, who serves as president of the Forrest County Board of Supervisors, said board members met with officials from the City of Petal, the City of Hattiesburg and engineering firm Shows, Dearman & Waits, but were unable to find a cost-feasible alternative to keep the bridge open. The closure of the bridge – which is more than 70 years old and will be replaced by a new bridge – is set to begin on January 22, and the length of closure will depend on weather conditions.
“The reason for the closure is to install drainage and construct a median on the existing roadway leading from the Hattiesburg side of the bridge,” Bell said in a statement. “The new bridge nor the old bridge will be accessible until this construction phase is completed. Therefore, unfortunately, one bridge cannot be passable with this phase of construction.
“The leading roadway to the bridges will be where the construction will occur. We are going to have an exceptional bridge and roadway after the completion of the new bridge. Forrest County offered to construct the new roadway on both sides of the bridge on city roads to give a quality product for the citizens of Forrest County.”
Contracting firm T.L. Wallace has committed an entire crew to the project, which will be dedicated to road drainage and median work. Detour signs will be installed leading to the construction zone and will be visible the day construction starts. Officials had previously worked with T.L. Wallace to shut down only one lane over the bridge, but that attempt did not come to fruition.
“This is an exciting project when you really think about it, that the current East Hardy Bridge has been in use for about 100 years. This new bridge will provide transit for many future generations in the future.”
Officials had originally considered demolishing the current bridge, but after learning that endeavor would cost approximately $1 million, the decision was made to leave the structure and transform it into a pedestrian bridge. The funds for that project will come from the Leaf and Bouie Redevelopment District, which was recently established to take the taxes from each side of the Leaf and Bouie rivers and reinvest them back into those areas of Hattiesburg, Petal and Forrest County.
“We have that district set up down there, and that’s bringing in some revenue for the second or third year,” said David Hogan, former president of the Forrest County Board of Supervisors, in a previous story. “So we’ll have some money built up to do some stuff to the old bridge once it’s not in use anymore.
“It’s going to be a destination point. There will be a walking path and some lighting, and we’ll probably paint it during events.”
Petal Mayor Tony Ducker said he will be glad to see both bridges put in use.
“We’ve made some changes on our side, that we’re going to allow for some beautification – not budget-busters, but just some things where we can make our side a little more attractive,” he said. “It’s going to be really great to have the new bridge.
“I know (Hattiesburg Mayor Toby) Barker has a lot of activity going on – construction, sidewalks things of that nature. We’ve got our Matthews Branch (walking path) project that’s going to tie in really nicely to that, so there’s a lot of opportunity for sure to get that end of town looking more presentable.”
Funds for the project came from a 2018 special session of the Mississippi Legislature, when members of that board passed House Bill 1. That bill used an emergency bridge and replacement fund – known as the Emergency Road and Bridge Repair Fund – as part of the Mississippi Modernization Act of 2018. Forrest County’s receipt of the $15.2 million was announced in late January 2019 during a news conference near the site of the bridge.
The East Hardy Street bridge was one of the Forrest County road and bridge projects listed on an emergency list for repairs and one of 163 across Mississippi to receive funding that was channeled through the Mississippi Department of Transportation. The $15.2 million allotted to Forrest County was the largest for any county in the state.
