Jackson's Hubble Creek Bridge moving toward completion

Jackson city engineer Anna Bergmark said Tuesday city officials have been assured the new Hubble Creek Bridge will be "substantially complete" on schedule by July 28, as originally agreed with Putz Construction of Millersville.

The $550,000 project connects Parkview Street with Cascade Drive inside Jackson City Park.

Safety concerns drove the project following an incident May 17, 2020, in which 5-year-old Kinsley Stuart was swept under Hubble Ford's culvert bridge, essentially a low-water crossing, because of a strong current.

The girl was rescued by boys playing nearby and was released the next morning from a Cape Girardeau hospital without suffering injury.

What's ahead

Bergmark said a pre-construction meeting with Putz officials is scheduled July 21 on the upcoming West Mary Street Bridge replacement and sidewalks project -- a much larger job than Hubble Creek because the earthmoving required.

At the meeting, an authorization to proceed is anticipated with work on the $1,643,870.58 project expected to start in August, shortly after the Hubble Creek span is finished.

Safety is also a primary driver of the West Mary undertaking with city administrator Jim Roach previously noting two vehicles have washed off the current low-water crossing on Mary Street within the past two decades.

"A key part of the Mary project is going a block-and-a-half with new sidewalks where none exist now. Providing paths for foot traffic in cities is becoming more and more popular," Jackson public works director Kent Peetz told the Southeast Missourian in February.

Desiree Harvey. left, and Jeff Head, employees of Cape Girardeau's Foeste Masonry, are working Tuesday at the site of the new $550,000 Hubble Creek Bridge, connecting Cascade Drive to Parkview Street in Jackson City Park. City Engineer Anna Bergmark said municipal officials have been assured the bridge will be "substantially complete" before month's end.Jeff Long