I am a resident of Mt. Level Rd. west of Sardis. Since May of last year the bridge has been torn down and rebuilt. But not complete.

I have first called the road supervisor and was told that the bridge SHOULD be complete by the last of January or the first of February last year.  So I call my county Supervisor and was told that they were going to TRY and open the bridge by the first of December for the thru traffic. So December came and no bridge is open.

Now its February. I called them in January and again the road supervisor told me it would be the last of February or the first of March.

 I was also told that due to the weather is why no one has worked on the bridge. We have had some rainy days but keep in mind we have had a lot of good days as well.  When I leave home it’s five miles each way to the beginning of Mt Level Rd to get to Sardis because of the inconvenience of the bridge being under construction.  I’m sure it’s not only me that this has caused an inconvenience.

Now don’t get me wrong, I am grateful that they have finally taken time to fix the bridge. But it has taken too long to do the bridge when I was told the job was suppose to last only 120 days.

 And I understand that the job was contracted out, but (what) I don’t understand is the contractor only having one crew that works for them.  

We have residents on both sides of the bridge that this has caused a inconvenience to as well as many church members that travel this road as well.  

Suppose a resident has a emergency? It’s going to take a longer time for someone (police, sheriff and/or ambulance) to get to this side of the bridge.  

Also the roads that we now have to travel are in a worse shape as well. On Pegram Rd. the gravel is horrible to drive on when it rains. And Burdette Rd., when the first freeze came, the road got messed up and the bridge has a hole in it. It has been months since anyone has been out here at the bridge.  

My neighbor saw someone this past Wednesday for the first time in a while.  I have called and complained numerous times and I feel like I have been given the run around for too long and it’s time for some one to come up with some answers and some answers that’s true.

 But most of all we need our bridge completed. Why does it take (so long) and how long will we have to wait to get the bridge completed where we can start crossing it again? It soon will be a year.

s/Lenora Holliday

A resident of

Mt. Level Road

(Editor’s note: Following submission of this letter, Mrs. Holiday has called to report construction activity there.)