For almost 70 years, the bridge connecting East Hardy Street and South Main Street has borne the brunt of thousands of motorists traveling between Petal and Hattiesburg on a daily basis.
Now, thanks to last summer’s special session of the Mississippi Legislature and an application by the Forrest County Board of Supervisors, Forrest County is the recipient of $15.2 million that will be used to build a new, improved bridge to replace the current one that was built in 1950.
“The board of supervisors, in particular, is always concerned about both sides of the Leaf River and having ingress and egress both east and west,” board president David Hogan said during a news conference Friday. “This is a momentous (occasion), for us to be able to construct this bridge and make sure that everybody has access to the great things that we have in Forrest County on either side of the river.
“Especially when you think about education with the universities (and) the great health care that we have to offer, we want all of the citizens of Forrest County to freely be able to access both sides and not to have any concerns about being able to get across the Leaf River.”
Larry Byrd, who represents District 104 in the Mississippi House of Representatives, said although the bridge is perfectly safe for cars and pickup trucks, loaded 18-wheelers that weigh more than 36,000 or 17 tons risk damaging the bridge beyond repair. The current bridge, which sees approximately 10,000 vehicles per day, will remain open until the new one is complete.
“So it’s great that we don’t have to inconvenience (motorists) – it’s about an 8-mile detour around this thing (to the Mississippi 42 bridge),” Byrd said.
The new bridge will be constructed a short distance from the location of the current bridge, but officials are still unsure whether it will be built on the northwest or southeast side of the current bridge. Southern District Transportation Commissioner Tom King said award letters will be sent out this week, but it will take some time for the project to start.
“Some of the monies will come to take care of fees, such as your consultant, engineering and all the plans, so it’ll take a while,” he said. “It’ll take a little while for them to get their paperwork started and let the bid to a contractor.”
The funds are the result of House Bill 1, which was passed in the special section and created an emergency bridge and replacement program as part of the Mississippi Modernization Act of 2018.
“I’ve always said since last summer that the special session in August and September was the most consequential in recent history,” Hattiesburg Mayor Toby Barker said. “The Legislature really stepped forward and did a great number for the infrastructure of this state.”
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.
“Having a business on the south end of Petal, I’m certainly excited about having this new bridge, so that we know we’re going to have transportation across there for a long time,” said Forrest County District 3 Supervisor Burkett Ross, who owns Southern Bowling Lanes on South Main Street. “It’s certainly a great day for Petal and Hattiesburg to be joined together with a brand-new bridge.”
The other two Forrest County areas receiving funding are both in District 5: Carnes, which received $593,507.06, and Main Street in Brooklyn, which received $278,139.07.
“(The bridge in Carnes) will be temporarily fixed in the next week, and it’ll be reopened for (school) buses to pass across, but you still can’t get timber trucks across there, and you still can’t poultry trucks across there,” District 5 Supervisor Chris Bowen said. “Our state’s biggest industry is agriculture, and with the construction of a new, pre-cast concrete bridge, we’ll be able to pass anything we want across there, and that helps out the agricultural industry.
“The bridge on Main Street, that will be replaced with a poured box culvert, and this’ll be a bridge that’ll stand up for those parents that are trying to get around to South Forrest Attendance Center. So for our schools, this is a monumental day.”
The Friday news conference also was attended by Representatives Chris Johnson, Missy McGee and Percy Watson, as well as Forrest County District 2 Supervisor Charles Marshall and Sen. Juan Barnett.
