The general message Monday evening during a lengthy County Commission discussion was that there’s not going to be a quick solution for the Goshen Valley Bridge problem, but there’s also no need to panic.
County Mayor Mark DeWitte told the commission Monday that the bridge isn’t going to collapse any time soon. If it was, the Tennessee Department of Transportation would have already closed it.
But, the 60-year-old bridge located just south of Church Hill on Goshen Valley Road has been identified by TDOT as being in need of replacement at an estimated cost of more than $14 million.
DeWitte noted, however, that the state hasn’t given any indication or warning that it intends to close the bridge.
Meanwhile commissioners are looking for ideas to keep heavy tractor-trailers off the bridge. The Goshen Valley Volunteer Fire Department will no longer cross the bridge with its heavy fire equipment due to the 10-ton weight limit.
The Hawkins County Board of Education is also diverting three school buses that usually cross the Goshen Valley Bridge daily through Christian’s Bend instead, and across the Longs Bend Road bridge in Surgoinsville.
Hawkins County EMS will continue to cross the bridge, although director Jason Murrell told the commission Monday they will not stop their vehicles on the bridge while working accidents there.
Not a TDOT priority
DeWitte noted that the bridge has had the same 10-ton rating for seven years, which prompts the question, “Why didn’t we do something about it before now?”
One reason, Goshen Valley Bridge is not on TDOT’s list of priority bridges.
“The state has two bridge lists,” DeWitte said “The bridges on the first list are considered to be priority, and the bridges on that list have to be taken care of before the bridges on the second list. Currently Hawkins County has five bridges on the first list, but Goshen Valley Bridge is on the second list. We would have to go through the first list before we got to the second list for any state bridge money for that.”
TDOT’s five priority Hawkins County bridges include:
The Cardinal Way (formerly AFG Road) bridge over railroad; Walkers Church Road bridge over Robinson Creek; Browns Mountain Road bridge over Beech Creek; West Bear Hollow Road bridge over Big Creek; and the Bales Chapel Road bridge over the railroad.
Hawkins County receives between $175,000 and $250,000 per year from the state to take care of its bridges, which won’t come anywhere near the cost of covering a $14 million bridge replacement.
“We’ve had some discussions with TDOT, and so far they don’t have any intentions of granting the $14-$15 million it would take to replace the bridge,” DeWitte said. “But, the idea of federal funding was thrown around and we’re looking at every possible angle to get money before we have to come up with some as a county.”
The Federal Bridge Investment program provides funds at that level for bridges.
DeWitte noted that the 10-ton weight limit for vehicles with two axels has been in place since 2017, and has remained the same through inspections in 2019, 2021, and 2023.
“People in the community are worried about the bridge being closed,” DeWitte said. “The county doesn’t make that decision. TDOT makes that decision, and right now there’s no plans or indications that they have any plans that they’re anywhere near closing the bridge.”
DeWitte added, “There’s a lot of falsehoods floating around about the bridge that it’s going to fall down at any minute. It’s not. If it was going to do that the state would have closed it a long time ago. We’re looking at some ways to ease the traffic on it, but it takes a while to get all this stuff in place.”
Citizens Comments
During citizens comments Ketron Bailey noted that during the recent Road Committee bridge discussion the idea of issuing a bond to pay for the bridge was discussed, but no one suggested calling State Rep. Gary Hicks.
“That’s the first person this county needs to call, is Gary Hicks,” Bailey said. “He’s our state representative. He does a great job down there.”
Bailey added, “Any time you put four vehicles on there, you’ve already busted your 10-ton weight limit. Then I heard people making the stupid comment, how about putting bigger signs up that says ‘No truck drivers. No 18-wheelers’. You know why 18-wheelers go on that road? It is not a non-truck route.”
Bailey said the GPS sends them from Baileyton to Beech Creek and Goshen Valley, and they don’t pay attention to the signs.
“If it’s not listed as a non-truck route they’re coming,” Bailey said. “They don’t pay attention to it. A semi weighs up to 80 tons. … A 72-passenger school bus with no oil, no fuel in it, 24,837 pounds. If it’s a diesel is 26,218 pounds. A boxed ambulance empty is 22,000 pounds. A UPS truck is 22,000 pounds. We’re breaking the law. If you’re going to put more than two vehicles on the bridge at time, you’re over your 10-tons.”
‘Not going to fall right now’
Deanna Patterson who lives in Goshen Valley across the bridge, told commissioners one of her main concerns is with emergency response times, and the effect the aging bridge is having on the Goshen Valley VFD.
“(The GVVFD) functions quite a bit on our donations, and they can no longer cross the bridge,” Patterson said. “That means they’re going to have to put in a fuel tank, and they’re going to have to fill the fuel tank. That’s going to deplete our funds by about $8,000 to $12,000 per year, and that is funded by people who are on a budget.”
Patterson also expressed concern that with school buses no longer crossing the bridge, students are losing instructional time due to increased time on the road.
“We’ve got 9,500 people across that bridge,” Patterson said. “I’ve been coming across that bridge several times a day since 1994 when I moved to Goshen Valley. It’s the most beautiful place to live down here. I’m a little disappointed that there’s been no transparency on this.”
Patterson added, “Since March 11 when this became clear to our community, there was not an alarm sounded. ‘We hate to go into debt’. That’s what I heard. I get it. The bridge is probably not going to fall right now, but you’ve got to do something. If you’re going to put the signs up, enforce (the weight limit).”
‘Get everybody on the same page’
Hawkins County Director of Schools Matt Hixson said two 72-passenger buses and one special needs bus that usually cross the Goshen Valley Bridge began taking an alternative route through Christian’s Bend Monday to avoid the bridge due to the weight limit.
Although not all students returned to class Monday after Spring Break, Hixson said the alternative route Monday resulted in students getting to school 10-15 minutes late.
“We’re going to study that across the week and see what the routes through Christian’s Bend add time-wise once we get every student accounted for,” Hixson told the commission. “It wasn’t as bad as originally estimated (Monday) morning. We are looking at several options. Adding a bus from a smaller route. Combining, and then sending that bus over to divide that (two routes) into thirds if we have to run the alternative routes, which would decrease the overall time. There’s no decision right now definite. We haven’t discussed it with the board, but we are studying that this week as far as running those alternative routes.”
Hixson noted that students receive their free breakfast regardless of what time they arrive at school in the morning.
Commissioner Josh Gilliam suggested that the Road Committee and Public Safety Committee schedule a joint meeting with the heads of county’s emergency first responder agencies and make sure the truth about this situation is communicated to everyone at the same time.
Then they can begin discussing action plans, Gilliam said.
“This affects transportation, but the emergency services portion is very alarming,” Gilliam said. “Calling a joint meeting would be a positive thing to get everybody on the same page.”
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