Jackson bridge projects will have several benefits

A few week ago the City of Jackson held a ribbon cutting for our newest bridge in Jackson. I wanted to provide a few thoughts on this park project.

First, I was pleased the Park Board decided the name would stay the same as the previous low water bridge, “Hubble Ford.”

The low water bridge was an icon in the park. It was not without some consternation that it was decided to replace the bridge. In the end, it was decided to replace the structure so the issues of a low water crossing could be avoided. Also, the interim solution of closing the ford every time it rained was not a good solution.

As I said at the ribbon cutting, sometimes improvements need to be made — even to iconic roads, bridges or buildings. The key is that when you do make changes, you do it right to assure you are delivering an improved structure for the future.

The new bridge is a great new feature in the Jackson City Park. The addition of the stone-covered concrete structure matches well with the existing retaining walls of Hubble Creek in the area.

The elevated bridge structure now includes a pedestrian path which is separated from the roadway by a barrier.

The walkway makes it much easier to cross. We have already seen the result of the easier access to parking and the restrooms for the softball fields on the north side of the bridge.

The lighting treatments on the bridge have been delayed because of supply back-orders, but hopefully they will be installed soon.

The Community Outreach Board is already looking at how the Holiday Extravaganza lighting display can include the bridge.

I would like to thank the Park Board, Board of Aldermen and city staff for their efforts and support of this project. I would also like to thank Putz Construction for the construction and Smith & Company for the engineering design of the structure.

The next low water bridge replacement over Hubble Creek on West Mary Street will begin Tuesday. This will be a more standard bridge to handle the growing traffic demand of the W. Mary and Oak Street corridor.

This project will also include sidewalks along both sides of the bridge, which will extend along both sides of Mary Street to existing sidewalks between N. Russell Ave. and N. Missouri Street, providing pedestrians safe travel to our park.

This project will also improve water and wastewater utilities in the area while the bridge construction is taking place to avoid future traffic interruptions. This bridge will also be built by Putz Construction and designed by Cochran Engineering. The detours for this construction project have been announced and are available on the city’s website at jacksonmo.org and our Facebook page.

Dwain Hahs is the mayor of Jackson.