Co. Board 6 May 2019: County Road 46 bridges

The Union County Board of Supervisors acted Monday to replace two unsafe County Road 46 bridges in western Union County.

The board agreed at its Monday, May 6, meeting to amend the 2019 budget and establish an Emergency Road and Bridge (ERBR) fund. The ERBR fund will handle the money for the bridge projects. However, it will be a number of months before the work can be completed.

The two bridges being replaced are on County Road 46 in District Two. That part of the county has a network of sloughs, swamps and small streams that flow into the Tallahatchie River. County Road 46 crosses those bodies of water in several places. However, for some years both bridges have been too unsafe to allow school buses to cross them.

Monday’s action allows the county to bank $2,268,465, the proceeds of a grant from the Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT). The money comes from $250-million in bonds the State of Mississippi sold for that purpose. Debt service for the bonds is expected to come from the new state lottery.

Engineering work and awarding of contracts must be done before the actual work on the two County Road 46 bridges can be started.

The board also handled routine business including:

• Approving the minutes of its April meetings.
• Approving of the Road Department work schedule for May.
• Paying the bills on the April claims docket.
• Approving a $15,316 Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) grant agreement to clean up illegal dumping.

The county board will meet again at 10 a.m. on Monday, May 20.

Condition of many MS bridges is safety concern: http://newalbanyunionco.com/mdot-transportation-funding-public-safety-issue/