OCEAN SPRINGS, MS – City officials ignored their own rules when they allowed school buses to pass over a failing bridge rated to hold approximately half the actual weight of a bus.
This wasn’t a situation where Ocean Springs officials can claim they didn’t know. They were the ones who put up the clearly marked sign limiting single axel vehicles to seven tons. The average school bus weighs between 12 and 16.5 tons, according to Blue Bird bus manufacturers.
The Hanshaw Road Bridge began falling into disrepair before the current administration took office. GC Wire examined state inspection reports dating back to 2021 and found the bridge was recommended for replacement in each of the reports sent to Ocean Springs Mayor Kenny Holloway’s office and the county Board of Supervisors. The state ordered a weight reduction when the bridge fell into the “Poor Condition” category.
After several warnings to city and county officials, the Mississippi Office of State Aid Road Construction (OSARC) sent a letter to Mayor Holloway on February 27ordering the bridge closed within 24 hours. City Clerk Patty Gaston said they received the letter on March 3 and had barricades up by March 5.
The closure has caused traffic havoc during morning commutes, especially around school drop off time.
Who Pays for the Repair?
During Monday’s Jackson County Board of Supervisors meeting, the Hanshaw Road Bridge took center stage, with residents asking: Who is responsible for paying?
The question was first directed at Supervisor Randy Bosarge, whose district includes Hanshaw Road in Ocean Springs, but Bosarge deferred the question to County Clerk Josh Elderidge.
“You’re kind of talking about a legal issue about whose responsibility that is,” Eldridge stated before giving more details. “The city is responsible for the roads, the bridges. However, the county has discretion [to help] because what’s good for the cities is generally good for the counties.”
Supervisor Troy Ross added more information about how the taxes are divided. “If you live in the city and pay road and bridge taxes, 50 percent automatically, by state law, goes back to the city and that goes into a fund,” he said. “They can put it into public works, use it to repair infrastructure, or they can do other things with it. That’s up to the city on how they do that. They’re supposed to use it for infrastructure.”
Mr. Ross continued by letting the audience know counties are not responsible for bridges within city limits, specifically stating, “The city is responsible for that.” Ross said Jackson County has generally been supportive of cities, but added that a lot of people think it’s supposed to be automatic. “It’s not,” he clarified.
Bosarge said there is state and federal money available to pay for bridge repair or replacement, but it takes years to go through that process of funding. The Hanshaw Road Bridge has been designated as in need of replacement for at least four years, which would have been plenty of time, had the city acted.
The District 5 Supervisor named several bridges in the county that are also in need of repair and stated those bridges are his top concern. “So, that’s my main goal right now is those bridges right now in the unincorporated part of the county,” he said. “Because the unincorporated part of the county is growing.” It is presumed he meant a top priority for grant money – something that was never sought for the Hanshaw Road Bridge.
The Mayor’s Plea to Jackson County
Mayor Holloway was at the Monday meeting to address the Supervisors.
“We have sent a resolution to the Board asking for some help and assistance in trying to get the bridge opened up sooner rather than later,” the mayor stated. “I’ve spoken with some engineers and they think this bridge can be opened up to light traffic of automobiles only, but the engineer with State Aid may not agree with that.”
Supervisor Bosarge reminded Holloway they spoke about an idea of posting a constant police officer at the bridge. “If we post a police officer at the bridge 24-7 to keep trucks from passing, I think we can get that bridge open for light traffic,” he said.
Bosarge said he is proposing to use county engineers to replace the detreated wood pilings. He said the caps for the bridge deck will not fit concrete, so they would have to be replaced with new wood pilings.
Under this plan, the city would be responsible for temporarily removing the water and sewer lines that run along the bridge. Once the city handles that, the county said they can likely handle the remaining work in six weeks.
The two then quipped about who will take the phone calls from residents, with Holloway saying, “I may have them forwarded.”
In the meantime, Bosarge said he would like to see Holloway try to get the bridge open for light traffic “at least until school is out.” Students start summer break in May. However, this plan would be up to state officials.
At no point in the meeting did any officials discuss the past use of the bridge by school buses, despite the buses being nearly twice the limit authorized by state safety inspectors.
