by Adam Shear
OGELSBY - McLennan and Coryell Counties recently ran into a major road block after a bridge collapsed near their county line.
For the past 30 years McLennan Co. has paid for the maintenance and upkeep of a bridge on Standpipe Rd., in the rural city of Ogelsby. When that bridge collapsed over a month ago, county officials realized something they did not before; the bridge actually belongs to Coryell Co.
A McLennan Co. construction crew realized the issue using GPS to identify the bridges exact location. After they discovered it was not their county's bridge they stopped repairs.
"We certainly were surprised to get a call from McLennan Co. say that the bridge they had built and maintained over the decades was actually in Coryell Co.," said Coryell Co. Judge John Firth.
After the collapse the two counties spent the next few weeks going back and forth about who should have to pay for the $12,000.00 reconstruction of the bridge that is just 100 ft. into Coryell Co.
The counties eventually decided to work together on the project. Coryell Co. will pay for the supplies to rebuild the bridge and McLennan Co. will provide the equipment and construction crew.
Once the project is finished Coryell Co. will take over full responsibility of maintaining the wooden bridge.
"It's just nice to know who's responsible for it now," said McLennan Co. Pct. 4 Commissioner Ben Perry. "It is obviously one less bridge Pct. 4 has to be concerned with, but the most important thing is that we're working to get this road back up and running."
County officials expect the bridge project to be done in either late August or early September, but in the meantime residents are left finding detours several miles out of their way. Some residents are not as patient though and several pick-up drivers have left a path to drive through in a field only 30 feet from the bridge.
The project is only expected to take just over a day when construction begins.
"This will allow citizens of both counties to be able to transit back and forth in the proximity of their ranches and this primarily agricultural land," said Firth.
The McLennan Co. construction crew expects to start working on the Standpipe Rd. bridge once they complete their roadwork on Chapel Rd.
