How long will it be before historic bridge linking Louisiana and Mississippi is replaced?

For six months, a 1930s-era bridge on a rural highway that connects New Orleans to the Mississippi Gulf Coast has been closed, negatively impacting businesses and prolonging travel times for thousands of daily drivers.

Help is on the way - but it won’t come anytime soon.

The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development has proposed replacing the deteriorating drawbridge over the West Pearl River on U.S. 90. But the bidding period won’t even open until 2025.

The DOTD estimates the cost for replacing the West Pearl bridge and three others along the same stretch of U.S. 90 at $60-$95 million.

All 4 bridges need to be replaced before this corridor can re-open,” said DOTD spokesperson, Brandie Bordelon. The bridge was closed indefinitely in May for emergency repairs after a routine inspection determined it was no longer structurally safe for drivers.

The latest traffic count in the area, 2021, showed around 3,300 vehicles daily.

U.S. 90 is used by some commuters between St. Tammany Parish and Pearlington, Mississippi, but perhaps more importantly becomes a vital alternative when Interstate 10 at the Louisiana-Mississippi line is shut down, which has happened several times recently.

“A lot of people are still very upset that it’s closed,” said John Massarini of Slidell.

Before the closure, he and his family used to attend church regularly in Bay St. Louis and U.S. 90 was their shortest route. Massarini said he doesn’t understand why it will take so long for repair work to begin.

The closure has been bad for some businesses that depend on the bridge to bring in customers, who now face longer drives using I-10.

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This story was originally published November 18, 2022 at 3:51 PM.