A New Bridge on Life
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A New Bridge on Life
By Shane Gilreath
After a closure of more than a year, the Niggs Creek overpass at High Point – originally built in the 1930s and remodeled some four decades later – is finally set to get a reprieve. The bridge, according to recent reports, is expected to be demolished and rebuilt, following an approval on the project from Norfolk-Southern, over whose tracks the overpass crosses. The approval from the railroad had previously postponed the project.
While the new project is expected to be similar in scale to the historic bridge, in keeping with modern specifications from the Federal Highway Administration, which has a bridge division, it will accommodate modern railway requirements.
The funding of the project has been secured from TDOT, via the Improve Act of 2017, through which vital monies for transportation infrastructure is supplied through state taxes on fuel, including gasoline and diesel; motor vehicle registration fees; and federal revenue.
SCN reached out to Norfolk Southern, who will still hold the contract on the project, for comment. As of press time, their representatives have not responded. The project, however, is expected to begin soon.
Beyond the High Point overpass, work is expected to begin on the O&W Road bridge over Pine Creek, which was condemned last summer, and, per the address by Senator Yager last month, Highway 27.
Yager and Representative Kelly Keisling have been equally credited for their recent work on behalf of Scott County roadways. In February, as reported by SCN, a petition to the legislators sprang from a Chamber of Commerce resolution, formally requesting that roadways become a focus, which Yager addressed last month when he visited Oneida, saying that Highway 27 would get attention by 2026. The Chamber petition cited that the improvement of road conditions is in the best interest of Scott County, as well as Scott County’s growing tourism industry.
