News Taffy

The new U.S. Highway 82-Greenville Bridge is scheduled to open for traffic on July 28. The dedication ceremony is July 26. The first contract was awarded in 2001 and construction began in 2002.

Washington County Board of Supervisors president Paul Watson says transportation officials in Mississippi and Arkansas are working on the details. The four-lane, cable-stayed bridge has been many years in the making. It was authorized when the existing bridge, built in 1940, was determined to be a navigational hazard and obsolete.

The old two-lane bridge crosses the Mississippi River just south of a sharp bend. Tow boats have difficulty completing that turn and straightening up in time to clear the bridge. Numerous barge/bridge collisions have happened over the years.