Sand Mountain Reporter | County receives $3.8M to build one bridge to replace bridges on Martling Road

County receives $3.8M to build one bridge to replace bridges on Martling Road
By Elizabeth Summers | Sand Mountain Reporter | February 4, 2013

The Double Bridges on Martling Road are soon to be no more.

The twisting, curving and potentially dangerous stretch of road features hairpin turns on a pair of one-lane bridges that has been a point of concern for county officials for years.

On Monday, Marshall County Commission Chairman James Hutcheson announced the county had received $3.8 million in Alabama Transportation Rehabilitation and Improvement Program funds to rebuild the road and bridges.

“We’re going to make it into one straight shot,” Hutcheson said. “We want to build one straight bridge across that creek.”

The county will have to pay $940,000 in matching funds to make the project happen, but that is a small price to pay for motorists’ safety,” he said.

“This is a project we have worked to get done for more than 30 years. I never thought I’d live to see it get done.”

The proposed bridge would be 28-feet wide and 1,025 feet in length. The single, modern bridge would soar over the current, obsolete structures over Skirum Creek.

No start date for construction has been set by county officials.

Currently, drivers must be vigilant and observant, watching for oncoming traffic on the bridges and must pull to one side of each bridge to allow traffic to clear the bridge before beginning their crossing.

Hutcheson thanked John Cooper, director of the Alabama Department of Transportation. Cooper, originally of Marshall County, knew the dangers of that roadway, Hutcheson said, and worked hard to get the funding approved.

District 4 Commissioner Tamey Hale said she was grateful for Monday’s news.

“This is terribly exciting for me,” Hale said. “I felt this was one of several reasons I was elected. We’ve been told over and over again (replacing the bridge) couldn’t be done with the economy the way it is. I was never discouraged. (Chairman) James (Hutcheson) and I have held on to this and not let go.”

Hale credited all local legislators, including U.S. Congressman Robert Aderholt, for tirelessly working to secure funding for the project.

Others working hard include her shop staff who worked to “pinch pennies and save money” to meet the matching amount, County Engineer Bob Pirando and Hale’s family, who never let her “get discouraged.”

“Aderholt came and rode a fire truck over those bridges,” Hale said of his visit in August 2011. “He got off that truck pale-faced and said he’d never let his children ride over those bridges."

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