Portion of County Road 9 to close for bridge replacement

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MARLOW, Alabama — A portion of County Road 9 between County Road 28 and Underwood Road will close on Monday, Sept. 23 and remain closed for more than 5 months to replace the bridge over Barner Branch.

The project, which will cost just under $1 million, has been in the works for more than a year, said Tyler Mitchell, construction manager with the Baldwin County Highway Department. Newell and Bush Construction of Montgomery will be in charge of the project, Mitchell said.

According to an advisory issued Thursday, Sept. 5 by the Highway Department, the road will be closed beginning Monday, Sept. 23 and remain closed until Friday, March 6.

The Highway Department also issued a revised travel advisory on Monday, Sept. 9 stating that a bridge project over Bushy Creek on Hoyle Bryars Road between County Road 61 and Dyas Road has been extended to Thursday, Oct. 31.

A third bridge construction project, on County Road 9 over Polecat Creek, is nearing completion, Mitchell said, and is now open to traffic.

Bridge replacement is done for a variety of reasons, Mitchell said.

“The state will road-rate a bridge, meaning that certain vehicles over a certain weight are unable to cross the bridge,” he said, stating that the Barner Branch bridge had been road-rated by the Alabama Department of Transportation for well over a year. “That is one of the criteria, along with age and condition.”