EDEN • HAZELTON issue 4.7
A Beacon of Light on the First Segregation
MURTAUGH
July 2025
free!
NEW HILLSDALE BRIDGES NEAR COMPLETION THE END OF (EXISTING) CONSTRUCTION DETOURS IS IN SIGHT The Brunes of Airport Road will be much relieved Motorists in Hillsdale will be pleased to know the bridge replacements initiated last fall are nearly complete. The Lantern was pleased to blow by the “Road Closed” sign and catch up with Cannon Builders’ James Gunkel; Gunkel has been supervising construction of the new bridges on Murtaugh Road and 990 south. At press time, Gunkel’s crew was still hauling gravel in preparation for a generous layer of asphalt, which Gunkel says is scheduled to be laid on both bridges July 10. After that he expects another week of tidying up before the crossings open to traffic.
When that happens, the good folks of Hillsdale should be pleased with the new infrastructure. The massive two-lane bridges feature 12’ shoulders, which will accommodate today’s giant farm implements quite nicely. Alert readers will recall that these bridges are two of the handful of bridges Hillsdale Highway Chief Keith Mills is working to replace (Lantern, 10/2024). Plans are in the works to replace bridges at the eastern and western gateways to Hunt, as well as a bridge on Tipperary Road at 1400 East. ITD has funding for the $2.8 million eastern Hunt (Gergen) bridge penciled in for 2028.
(left) The new Murtaugh Road bridge as it nears completion; (right, photo courtesy Jim Louder) the bridge earlier in the construction process just after the voided slab decks were nestled into place.
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