Chunky residents are concerned a closed bridge on Griffis-Fountain Road may limit their escape options in the event of an emergency. Last Tuesday, Dwayne Reynolds, a lifelong resident of Chunky and owner of Chunky Trading Post, asked Newton County supervisors what plans were in place to get residents out if an emergency were to occur.
The issue, Reynolds said, is that there are 20 homes and 47 residents living between that bridge and the railroad tracks that run through the Town of Chunky. Should a train break down or crash, he said, there would be no way to get them to a hospital or for an ambulance to get to them.
“Did anyone coordinate with or advise the County Emergency Management Office to notify or inform community officials or residents that they would have no way out of the affected area in the event of a railroad emergency,” Reynolds asked, reading from a list of prepared questions he gave to the Board of Supervisors.
The bridge itself has been closed to traffic for several years, Reynolds said. However, residents could still walk across it in the event of an emergency. Last year, however, Newton County crews dug a large trench across the bridge’s approach, he said.
“Before that, we had options,” he said. “It has been closed, but I could get past. Now, we have no options.”
Board President Charles Godwin said residents getting past the barriers already in place were the reason the county had to remove the approaches. The bridge, which has been closed by order of the state for over five years, had been posted closed, he said. When residents continued to use it, the county put up barriers. When residents moved the barriers, the county was left with no choice but to dig up the road leading to the bridge.
“That’s where the problem for us as a board came,” he said. “The state of Mississippi wrote us a letter. We were on the verge of losing any state money for the county, not just Beat 5 (which contains Chunky), but the whole county.”
This issue has been a long time in the making, Board Attorney Jason Mangum explained. The previous Beat 5 supervisor closed the bridge halfway to let people cross, he said. When Glenn Hollingsworth, the current Beat 5 supervisor, was elected, he continued that tradition until the county received the letter from the state.
Reynolds said he understood the situation the county was in and was not at the meeting to accuse them. If the bridge must stay closed, could it be opened for emergency traffic, he asked?
Unfortunately, Mangum said, when the state orders a bridge closed, the county is required to close it, and only the state can open it back up.
“We have a problem we didn’t create, and we don’t have the authority to do anything about,” he said. “I can’t speak for the board, but I think I can say in spirit, we’re with you.”
Speaking for the condition of the bridge, County Engineer Duane Stanford said opening it back up for foot traffic would be dangerous as well.
“The things about to fall in on its own,” he said. “It’s in that bad of shape.”
Bridges, like most infrastructure projects, are built with a certain lifespan in mind. This bridge, Stanford said, was built in 1922.
“It’s way past it’s design life,” he said.
While the county does not have the authority to open the bridge, residents will not go without care in the event of an emergency. E911 Director Brian Taylor said emergency plans are in place should a train derail or stall out, blocking residents in.
Currently, a replacement project for the bridge is on hold until funding can be located to cover the $2.5 million cost of installing a 2-lane concrete bridge.
In a letter to Aaron Clark, mayor of Chunky, copies of which Reynolds gave to the Board of Supervisors Tuesday, State Transportation Commission Dick Hall agreed the potential risk for Chunky residents was a detriment, and he hoped the legislature would find funding soon.
“Unfortunately, this bridge is an example of the numerous obsolete bridges we have scattered statewide, and hopefully the state legislature will soon develop a plan to fund the replacement of this and the hundreds of other bridges within our state that desperately need attention,” Hall said in his letter. “You are correct – if action is not soon taken, there is going to be a disastrous event which we will all seriously regret.”
