To the relief of area residents the contractor has wrapped up work on repairs to the Colonial Circle bridge, although at presstime the barrels were still in place. The bridge has been closed for two years.
Ashby Foote, who represents Ward One on the Jackson City Council, said construction on the bridge was set to be completed by about Sept. 15, provided a subcontractor on the project works through a delay in obtaining asphalt.
The reopening of the bridge will be good news for drivers on Colonial Circle/Adkins Boulevard between Ridgewood Road and Old Canton Road, who have had to take alternate routes to bypass the bridge that was closed in April 2021 due to deterioration.
Construction began earlier this summer after repairs to a major water line break at the former Colonial Country Club were completed
The city advertised for sealed competitive bids in two newspapers and received two sealed bids Jan. 10. Fordice Construction had the lowest bid at $688,192. The One Percent Sales Tax Commission voted to supplement funding Jackson received for the bridge.
The city had $584,744 from the 2022 Emergency Road and Bridge Repair Funds for the project and asked the commission during its Jan. 11 meeting to provide the remainder. The commission also approved at its Jan. 11 meeting funding a similar bridge project on McRaven Road in south Jackson.
The project has taken a step forward and then one backward.
In April 2022, the city accepted bids to demolish and replace the Colonial Circle bridge, but the bids expired before funding was awarded. The council authorized the mayor on Sept. 13, 2022 to sign a memorandum of agreement with the Mississippi Transportation Commission about the project and named Elmore Moody as the engineer of record for it.
During its July 12, 2022 meeting, the council approved up to $584,744 from the 2022 Emergency Road and Bridge Repair Funds for the project.
A bridge over Eubanks Creek in the 300 block of Hawthorn Drive in the Fondren neighborhood reopened in May 2021 after being closed for 50 months for reconstruction.
That bridge was shut down to traffic in April 2018 after the Mississippi Office of State Aid Road Construction directed the city to do so because it had structural issues. Construction did not start for about three years because of a lack of funds for the project and rain and other issues delayed construction.
When the Hawthorn Drive bridge was torn out in June 2021, residents were told it would be a three-month project to replace it, but construction soon stopped.
The project came to a halt after Entergy drained Lake Hico, which is located off West Northside Drive, at the request of the Jackson Public School District. The lake, which was used to provide water for the nearby Rex Brown power plant that is now closed, feeds into Eubanks Creek.
Construction did not pick back up until October 2021.
The commission provided $478,353.40 for the Hawthorn Drive bridge replacement, which cost about $528,000. The city received $50,000 in BP settlement funds to help with the construction.
