Planning continues for hoped-for Jackson bridges

Surveying work has begun on a possible Mary Street Bridge project in Jackson as officials investigate options to bring to the city's Board of Aldermen with an eye toward building a two-way span over Hubble Creek in 2022.

According to previous reporting by the Southeast Missourian, the estimated cost of engineering, design and construction of a 38-foot-wide double-lane bridge with two 4-foot-wide walkways along each lane is $975,543.

An option for sidewalks leading from the planned bridge east to the walking trail in Jackson City Park could add more than $140,000 to the total cost.

"We will likely ask for a two-part bid, one including the sidewalks and one without," Mayor Dwain Hahs said Tuesday.

"Since Washington Street was cut off from Highway 61, we've seen more traffic along Mary," said Kent Peetz, Jackson's director of public works.

Peetz refers to the construction of the new Cape Girardeau County Courthouse, which necessitated a different traffic pattern within uptown Jackson.

Mary Street is bearing the brunt of a higher vehicular load, Peetz indicated, who said Mary Street is considered part of the city's major street plan.

Part of the impetus for a bridge is traffic flow but safety is also a concern as flash flooding makes the crossing impossible.

"We've had vehicles washed off downstream at the Mary location," said Peetz, adding the city is careful to put up warning signs and barricades when there is high water and even when significant rain is forecast.

Cochran Engineering, based in Farmington, Missouri, is the engineering firm working on the project.

Same creek, different span

Peetz said a Poplar Bluff, Missouri, firm, Smith and Company, is working on the plan for a less expensive one-lane bridge within City Park itself crossing Hubble Creek.

Preliminary estimates put the cost of the span in the neighborhood of $400,000, Hahs said.

Because the construction is "simpler" in comparison to Mary Street, Peetz indicated the bridge, with the working name of Hubble Ford, may be built first, perhaps in 2021.

The city blocks entry to deter vehicles and pedestrians when the water rises because safety is a concern there, too.

In May, a 5-year-old girl nearly drowned when she was sucked underneath the low-water crossing in that location.

Three culverts run underneath the creek, Peetz said.

City administrator Jim Roach, a proponent of the bridge projects, told aldermen Oct. 5 it may be possible to secure grants to defray the cost of both spans.

Replacing both low-water crossings "is something I've certainly promoted trying to get done as soon as possible," Roach said at the time.