Bridge replacement projects on schedule in Jackson

Hubble Ford Bridge Replacement Project in Jackson City Park should get started in less than two weeks, on Feb. 28, Jackson's public works director Kent Peetz said Wednesday.

Putz Construction of Millersville was awarded the nearly $550,000 project in January by the Board of Aldermen.

Projected to take five months to both prepare the site and build the Hubble Ford span, assuming cooperative weather and no supply-chain issues, a completion date of July 28 has been set.

West Mary Street bridge replacement, covering another low-water crossing also on Hubble Creek, should begin in August, soon after Hubble Ford is finished.

"Mary Street is a much larger project, and while I don't know the exact timeline from the engineers, I suspect it won't be done until early 2023," said Peetz, who added the two-lane bridge with a sidewalk on each side is "pretty much designed" but sewer and water relocation plus electrical work will need to be addressed.

"We'll need to do a lot more earthmoving with Mary Street to raise the roadway with fill," he added, noting the city is obtaining easements and right-of-way permissions from homeowners.

Peetz said the city has "90% plans" in hand from Cochran Engineering and declined to comment when asked for an estimate on cost for the West Mary Street crossover — preferring to wait on receipt of bids.

The public works director said the West Mary project likely will be let in early April.

"I can tell you the bridge will look a lot like the one we currently have on Washington Street," Peetz said.

"A key part of the Mary project is going a block-and-a-half with new sidewalks where they're aren't any now. Providing paths for foot traffic in cities is becoming more and more popular," he said.

Jackson's director of administrative services, Rodney W. Bollinger, said West Mary Street, which becomes Oak Street after crossing North Union Avenue, is considered a "collector street" in the municipal Major Street Plan and carries approximately 1,000 vehicles per day.

Rationale

"The primary driver for a new Mary Street bridge — as is the case with Hubble Ford — is safety," Jackson city manager Jim Roach said.

On May 17, 2020, five-year old Kinsley Stuart was swept under the Hubble Ford culvert bridge by a strong current. She was rescued by a group of boys who were playing nearby. Stuart was taken to the Saint Francis Medical Center emergency room and released the next morning without injury.

Roach said at least two vehicles have washed off West Mary's low-water crossing since he became city manager in 2001,

"We were fortunate no one was severely injured or killed," said Roach, who adds while safety is the No. 1 concern of city officials, there is another reason to build the two new spans over Hubble Creek — expectations of continued growth in population is a secondary motivation.

The City of Jackson grew more than 12.5% between 2010 and 2020, from 13,758 to 15,481 residents.