More than four years after five U.S. 90 bridges over the Pearl River were shut down, Pearlington, Mississippi residents and business owners are showing up to demand answers. The bridges, closed since May 2022 after inspectors found them deteriorating, cut off a direct route between Pearlington and Louisiana, and locals say the wait has gone on long enough.
Michael Mavenyengwa, who owns Pearlington Rocket Express, told WLOX that the closure cut off much of the traffic his business once relied on. Before the bridges shut down, he said he saw up to 600 customers a day, with people traveling from as far as Gulfport and New Orleans. That kind of cross-border traffic simply doesn't reach his storefront anymore.
Mavenyengwa said he hopes the bridge project will help bring Pearlington back to life, a sentiment echoed by other residents and business owners in the small Hancock County community who hope a proposed replacement project will reconnect their town and help it recover. The frustration isn't just about commerce — it's about daily life.
Residents Describe Daily Disruptions and Storm Worries
Pearlington resident June Jarvis relied on the bridge for essential errands, and its absence has reshaped how she gets through her week. Lisa Boughton, who worked as a hairstylist in Slidell, said she had to find new work in Bay St. Louis after the bridge closed, since the commute across the border became impractical.
Boughton said the bridge is one of the major accesses for leaving the area during a storm, a concern that echoes broader worries about the corridor's role during hurricane season. According to nola.com, drivers around the region have lost both a popular Interstate 10 detour and a once-crucial hurricane evacuation route because of the closures. The outlet also reported that local businesses have blamed the shutdown for a continued loss of customers as residents face longer commutes.
Stephanie Berault, discussing the route's importance for evacuations, recalled her own experience during Hurricane Katrina in comments to Fox 8: “Most importantly it's in evacuation route. I was in Slidell during Katrina and even with those bridges open and contraflow, Slidell was a parking lot.”
Two Public Hearings Scheduled This Month
Transportation officials will hear public comments on a proposal to replace the bridges at a hearing today, with Boughton planning to attend and ask for a clear plan and timeline. The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, the Mississippi Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration are holding two hearings this month to walk residents through the project, according to WLOX.
The first session is set for the Pearlington Recovery Center today from 4:30 to 7 p.m., with the second scheduled for Oct. 26 at Northshore High School in Slidell during the same hours. The station reports the hearings will present an overview of the project, the alternatives studied, the preferred alternative and the impacts expected from construction. LADOTD representatives are expected at both sessions to answer questions and discuss issues like tentative real estate acquisition and construction schedules, while MDOT representatives will attend the Pearlington hearing for the same purpose.
Funding Picture Remains Uncertain
The project's price tag has been reported inconsistently across coverage. The Sun Herald has cited an estimated cost of $150 million to $350 million to replace the deteriorated bridges, while an earlier nola.com report put the cost of replacing the West Pearl River bridge and three others at $60 million to $95 million — figures that may reflect different project scopes or phases that have not been reconciled.
The Federal Highway Administration could award up to $80 million toward the project if Louisiana's application is approved, per the Sun Herald. Louisiana finally submitted its grant application in June after a government shutdown delayed the process, the paper reported, and if approved, the grant would help pay to replace four bridges in Louisiana. The East Pearl River Bridge at the state line would be repaired under a separate project funded jointly by Louisiana and Mississippi's transportation departments, the same report notes. Even if federal money comes through, Louisiana and Mississippi will still need to provide additional funding, according to Fox 8.
What a New Bridge Could Look Like
Design details floated in earlier reporting show real tradeoffs for river traffic. Nola.com has reported that the agency proposes replacing the drawbridge with a fixed bridge offering 12 feet of clearance above the water, a decrease of six feet from the current drawbridge when closed, while horizontal navigational clearance for boaters would shrink from 90 feet to 60 feet.
Traffic counts underscore how much is riding on the corridor despite its modest size. The latest count cited by nola.com, from 2021, showed around 3,300 vehicles daily using the area, and the route serves as a vital alternative when Interstate 10 at the Louisiana-Mississippi line is shut down. WLOX has previously reported that Louisiana officials said the U.S. 90 bridge over the West Pearl River could reopen no earlier than 2028, though a separate report from WXXV found that a 2028 date shown on an MDOT map advisory was only a placeholder, with no completion date currently estimated because work had not started. For now, Pearlington's residents and business owners are left hoping this month's hearings finally produce the plan and timeline they've been asking for.
