Tupelo officials declare emergency for closed West Main Street bridge
Aug. 22—TUPELO — Officials have declared an emergency in order to fix the bridge along east Main Street and Highway 6 in need of immediate repair, following its closure last week.
The Tupelo City Council voted unanimously among present members on Tuesday night to approve a contract with Tupelo-based consulting firm Cook Coggin Engineers for the engineering and design of the new bridge, which city officials and representatives from Cook Coggin estimate will cost $2.6 million. Ward 6 Councilwoman Janet Gaston and Ward 7 Councilwoman Rosie Jones were absent.
The city plans to expand the bridge into a three-lane rather than two because it will only cost the city an additional $500,000 to make the upgrade. Regardless, the bridge will be closed for at least a year and three months, according to Cook Coggin Principal Engineer Mark Wheaton, who said the design should be complete by the end of the year.
The bridge, which is 70 years old and is located near Steele's Dive, was closed on Aug. 16 after inspectors deemed it unsound because of corrosion on its support pilings.
The city will pay for the project using its rainy-day funds. Chief Operations Officer Don Lewis said the city has between $18 million and $20 million in cash on hand. The project will not affect the city's bond rating, Lewis noted. He said the city will pay for the project in four installments.
According to Lewis, without the emergency declaration, the city would have to wait until July of next year to secure funding from the state. City officials believed it was too long to wait to begin the repair process the highly trafficked bridge, despite losing out on the state emergency funding.
"It is not going to get any cheaper; $2.6 million in today's money will hopefully get the job done, but if we don't do it, and come back later, it will cost well over $3 million," Lewis said.
Ward 2 Councilman Lynn Bryan asked if it was possible for the city to demolish the bridge in a separate bid while the engineering and design process occurred simultaneously. Lewis and Wheaton said that was an option but might affect the cost.
Officials are currently detouring traffic around the bridge. All eastbound truck traffic is being redirected to Bissell Road and onto Highway 76. Westbound truck traffic is being directed down Cliff Gookin to Graham Road and onto Highway 76.
Lewis said the project also brings the opportunity to widen Highway 6 from the bridge to Bissell Baptist Church, which was already on the Major Thoroughfare Committee's radar. He said in the coming weeks, he will speak to the committee about that possibility but did not have a price estimate as of Tuesday and did not know what easements and right of way might be needed.
