City, county and state officials have no answers for some Poplar Bluff residents who say a dilapidated bridge could keep fire and ambulance help from reaching their homes.
The bridge serves as the only access for five properties on Market Lane, located on the north side of PP Highway, just east of Cypress Creek Motorsports.
Chester Groves and Dennis Hast say a center support on the bridge is leaning, and they fear it could fall under the next heavy vehicle or high water event.
They have asked city council members and other officials for help, but said Monday, four months have passed without a solution.
"I was raised, that you were only as good as your word," Groves told council members during their regular meeting. "If you don't live up to that word, you're nobody. I ask, are you only as good as your word at election time, when you need our vote?"
The problem is that while the homes are in the city limits, the bridge is not, according to city manager Mark Massingham. The structure is within the county boundaries, and is also located on private property, he said.
Engineers with Smith and Company examined the bridge and found it would cost about $40,000 for a private contractor to make repairs, Massingham said.
Massingham told the residents he approached presiding commissioner Vince Lampe with an offer to pay for materials, if the county highway department would complete the repairs.
"We don't have $40,000 in the budget to pay a private contractor," Massingham said.
The only other option would be to have the street department do the work, he said, explaining the council would have to decide if they wanted this done on private property.
The county is also concerned about the location on private property. Lampe cited this Tuesday, when saying the county could not help either.
Hast believes it's only a matter of time before the bridge collapses.
"One of our trucks are going to fall," he told the council.
Mayor pro tem Susan McVey said she had called Hast, but that she did not have any control over the situation.
Groves said this morning he has since been contacted by Mayor Ed DeGaris. DeGaris echoed comments by Massingham at the meeting, saying the Missouri Department of Transportation also would not help.
"If somebody has a heart attack, the ambulances can't cross the bridge to get to us," Groves said at the meeting. "Why do we pay taxes, if we can't be served by the city we pay taxes to?"
The reason Mistletoe Lane is in the city limits is because residents were asked to voluntarily annex and they agreed, Groves said. It occurred around the same time improvements were made to straighten and four-lane PP Highway, he said.
Groves blames the current problems on changes made by MoDOT during the road improvements.
Two drainage ditches handled water runoff at that time, he said. One ditch was removed during the work, and the smaller ditch remains.
MoDOT added culverts and made improvements to an entrance that serves Mistletoe Lane, about 15 feet west of the Market Lane bridge, Groves said.
Water from the culverts now tops their bridge during heavy rains and has washed out the embankments, he said.
About four months ago, the bridge deck dropped a short distance while a trash truck was attempting to cross. Residents have since been asked to bring their trash cans to the highway.
"I'm afraid the next hard rain we get, it's going to go down," Groves said. "We hold our breath every time we cross it."