Paris, Tenn.–Good news from the city of Paris. The Rison Street bridge will be soon reopening temporarily.
The bridge has been closed since October 2023 and delays by TDOT in construction of a new bridge have caused frustration within the community.
City Manager Kim Foster said the city is working with individuals within the Henry County Highway Department to coordinate work that will allow the city to temporariy reopen the bridge. The work is set to begin next week, she said, with off-duty highway department employees helping city crews make the temporary repairs. The temporary repairs will allow the city to reopen the bridge until TDOT is ready for the project to proceed.
Foster said earlier the Rison Street bridge project has been frustrating with the delays from the state’s end of things. The City of Paris was first awarded an 80-20 grant for bridge replacement in 2019 but COVID happened, which placed state projects on hold. And now, TDOT has told the city of Paris they have a backlog of over 100 projects.
Foster again noted that the city closed the bridge, originally thinking it would just be a few months before TDOT would get to the project, but delays by the state left the city ‘dangling’.
Photo by Shannon McFarlin.