Bridge to Recovery

For the towns of Bay St. Louis and Waveland, the rebuilding of a bridge connecting the two cities cannot come soon enough. Currently, one has to drive more than forty miles around the bay that separates both towns that were previously connected by a bridge that cut the trip to mere minutes.

The new bridge will reinvigorate both communities. The contractors working on the bridge are trying to finish the bridge ahead of schedule to secure a $5 million bonus:

Contractor Granite Archer Western is racing to finish two lanes of the 1.9-mile concrete span over the Bay of St. Louis between Hancock County in the west and Harrison County in the east by mid-May to earn a $5 million bonus. State and federal officials will want to open the roadway as soon as it can carry traffic. That leaves the party planners scratching their heads about just when to schedule their gala, which they’d like to hold on the bridge itself.

Timing aside, there’s no shortage of ideas about how to celebrate.

“It’s a big party so let’s party,” said businesswoman Tina Stiglet, who serves on a Hancock County Chamber of Commerce committee that is planning the festivities. Stiglet and 20 other county movers and shakers gathered on a recent afternoon to brainstorm the event. Ideas ranged from military flyovers to marching bands and celebrity appearances.

Hancock County Chancery Clerk Tim Kellar offered his notion of “the joining of the entire coast again, hand-to-hand” across the bridge, perhaps using schoolchildren in a simple yet spectacular production.

Chamber Executive Director Tish Williams envisioned “a white-tablecloth party, just a huge party.”

The anticipation is fitting for a $267 million project that will cut 40 miles off the typical post-Katrina round trip between Hancock and Harrison counties. The bridge also will put shoppers in western Harrison County much closer to the rapidly recovering commercial sectors in Waveland and Bay St. Louis than they are now to the alternatives in Gulfport and Biloxi.

This bridge is a lifeline for these shoreline communities and will help the recovery efforts along the Gulf Coast.

The bridge is expected to be ready on the 16th and a celebration is scheduled for the 17th:

A ceremony will be held at 2pm on the Bay St. Louis side of the bridge. Classic Cars will be the first to cross over the bridge from the Pass Christian Side. A large celebration---free and open to the public---is planned from 4-8pm along North Beach Blvd to the Bay-Waveland Yacht Club. We are calling it Bridge Fest.

This is what the bridge looked like after Katrina. It had to be completely rebuilt - and it was built higher above the water to eliminate a drawbridge that marked the original span. Photos from the construction can be found here.

Similarly, the US 90 bridge in Biloxi is being rebuilt and is expected to be rebuilt by April 2008.

These transportation links are crucial to improving the economic outlook along the Gulf Coast - as they permit easier access to the region. Tourism and economic growth are sure to follow.