(The Center Square) – Recent delays and the prospect of further construction on Interstate 10 in the three-county Mississippi Gulf Coast region show the need for an alternate route.

One of those alternate routes on U.S. 90 over the Pearl River – which forms the border between Louisiana and Mississippi – has been closed since 2022 and a replacement for the five bridges might not happen until 2028. 

Motorists seeking to avoid traffic jams on I-10 are left with one alternate, elongated route north to I-59 since it has to avoid entering NASA’s Stennis Space Center, the space agency’s primary testing facility for rocket engines.

The need for an alternate route was highlighted when one of the I-10 bridges over the Pearl River was damaged after a truck collided with a railing, forcing westbound traffic on one of the nation’s key east-west arteries down to one lane and snarling travelers with delays.

The Mississippi Department of Transportation is building an overpass at Menge Avenue in Pass Christian for a new Buc-ee’s gas station. To build the new overpass, the old one will be demolished. On Monday, all westbound lanes will close with traffic redirected off the interstate from 9 p.m. until 5 a.m.

The eastbound lanes will be closed in a similar fashion at a later date yet to be announced. According to the department’s traffic count page, the average daily traffic count on I-10 is up 20.5%, going from 39,000 vehicles in 2012 to 47,000 in 2022. 

According to Louisiana Department of Transportation & Development, it has primary responsibility for the U.S. 90 and I-59 Pearl River bridges, something it alternates with Mississippi DOT on the border crossings. Mississippi has responsibility for the I-10 and Louisiana State Route 10 bridges over the Pearl. On the Mississippi River, Natchez’s U.S 84 crossing is under Mississippi’s Transportation Department; Louisiana is in charge of the Interstate 20 bridge. 

Slidell’s lawmakers, state Sen. Sharon Hewitt and Rep. Robert “Bob” Owens, sent a letter last month to Gov. John Bel Edwards and the Transportation Department asking for an expedited timeline for a new set of bridges, which are located in her district. The gubernatorial candidate is the vice chairwoman of the Senate Transportation, Highways and Public Works Committee.

The Legislature provided a $45 million outlay for initial work on replacing the West Pearl bridge, but that’s less than a fifth of the $250 million replacement cost for all of the bridges. 

“We are requesting that the West Pearl River bridge replacement project be expedited as much as possible because it is one of two designated hurricane evacuation routes heading east from Slidell,” Hewitt and Owens said in the letter. “Having a replacement bridge in place five hurricane seasons from now, if everything proceeds on schedule, is not acceptable. Memories of Hurricane Katrina and the poorly-executed evacuation plan are still vivid in the minds of citizens in our community.”

In a statement released to The Center Square, the Louisiana Department of Transportation & Development says it has been “working with the U.S. Coast Guard, residents, and other stakeholders to provide a replacement solution that meets the community’s needs and adheres to federal and state regulations regarding environmental protection.”

The statement said, “The deterioration in the structural elements of the four bridges that cross the West Pearl and its tributaries is significant enough to require the full replacement of these bridges; repair is not a feasible solution. The East Pearl bridge has experienced less deterioration but is well beyond its expected service life and will require replacement or face closure in the upcoming years. Unfortunately, there is no quick fix that will address the U.S. 90 bridges crossing the Pearl River.”

The department also says the U.S. 90 bridges serve fewer users and benefit from a nearby detour route, such as U.S. 90 that connects I-10 in Slidell. Other detours travelers can use include U.S. 190 or State Route 433 north of the Rigolets pass, or U.S. 11 south of the Chef Menteur Pass, which all lead to Interstate 10.

Data from Mississippi’s traffic count backs that assertion, with average traffic going from 4,000 vehicles in 2012 to 2,600 in 2021, the last full year before the route was closed.