Has there been another time when so much road, bridge, street and utility rehabilitation and/or construction work was ongoing simultaneously in Tallahatchie County?
Large sections of Mississippi Highway 32 between Charleston and Webb have been included in two separate multimillion-dollar Mississippi Department of Transportation projects.
One result is a new 335-foot-long concrete railroad bridge that rises 35 feet above what used to be a dangerous highway-level railroad crossing at Mikoma. Twelve other timber pile bridges built in the late 1940s are being replaced with new concrete bridges or box culverts. A big stretch of this roughly 17-mile-roadway is being elevated, realigned to carry traffic north of the existing roadbed and, when all is said and done, will sport a new, smooth asphalt surface.
Nearly $5 million is being spent on an MDOT project to replace the Black Bayou bridge on U.S. Highway 49 East near Glendora.
Highway construction work is or has been ongoing in the county on Highway 49 East and Highway 49 West in the Webb-Sumner-Tutwiler areas and is about to begin in earnest on that stretch of Highway 32 in Charleston also known as Main Street and Court Square.
Major natural gas, water and sewer pipe rehabilitation is underway and/or upcoming in the city of Charleston. In Sumner, townwide water line replacement, as well as a sidewalk improvement project, are ongoing. Altogether, those add up to a few million dollars more of progress.
Tallahatchie Valley Electric Power Association is building a new electrical substation near the “three-way” south of Charleston. Tennessee Valley Authority is working on a major expansion of its electricity distribution network to power that substation.
Two weeks ago it was announced that the Highway 49 bridge over Hopson Bayou in Tutwiler will be replaced as part of a multimillion-dollar project.
MDOT says a project to replace the through truss bridge over the Tallahatchie River on Highway 32 at Strider will be advertised for bids in the not-too-distant future.
The city of Charleston is advertising for bids for a new trail/park on Shade Street, and the town of Tutwiler has plans for an ambitious new recreation complex in the area now known as Railroad Park.
As impressive as it is, by no means is this list comprehensive. These are mighty busy times in sleepy Tallahatchie.
