On Tuesday, the Mississippi Transportation Commission announced that $250 million in funding had been allocated for 163 Emergency Road and Bridge Repair Fund projects to repair or replace 200 bridges in severe condition across the state including six in Sunflower County.
In Sunflower County, funded projects include $860,485.20 for Blackwood Road, $692,464.45 for McCoy Lake Road, $837,017.15 for Tindall Road, $621,556.60 for Lusk Road and $620,172 for Kemp Road, plus $650,832 for the College Avenue Bridge in the City of Indianola, which totals $4,282,527.30 for the county.
Engineer Ron Cassada said on Wednesday that the funds should be available as early as March. On Tuesday, Cassada told the County Board of Supervisors that he was expecting to hear the determination on the funding that day and was fairly confident that the College Avenue Bridge would be funded because of its degree of readiness.
Questions and a lengthy discussion were raised regarding the Ward-Riddick bridge replacement project since the bridge is currently closed and county residents are in need of access. A temporary detour was formed previously, but that detour has become muddy, Cassada said. He told the lawmakers they would find out whether they received the funding for that bridge at the same time as the rest.
Cassada and the board discussed several options to erect a suitable detour or alternate route in order to give citizens access to their properties and since it was revealed that the bridge was not funded, the county road crew will proceed to install two tanker cars so the bridge can be opened back up.
A few citizens approached the board and expressed their dismay over other road and bridge closures and were told that the county was doing its best to address all of their concerns.
All tolled, city and county governments received $213 million for projects on local roads and MDOT received $37 million for projects on the state highway network.
In the press release, Northern Transportation District Commissioner Mike Tagert said the commission received 690 applications totaling nearly $1 billion. “Although all applications contained important projects, those awarded will provide greatest benefit to the state’s crippled infrastructure,” he said.
Retiring Commissioner Dick Hall, Mississippi Transportation Commission Chairman, said, “While we were not able to fully fund the $1 billion in requested applications, it is a start to addressing the state’s critical infrastructure needs.”
