HATTIESBURG, MS — A rededication ceremony was recently hosted by Southern District Transportation Commissioner Tom King to officially add State Route 57 back to the hurricane evacuation route list. Earlier this year, the Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) reopened the Red Creek Bridge on State Route 57 after being struck by a truck carrying a track hoe in September of 2017.

“State Route 57 is one of only two official hurricane evacuation routes for the people of Jackson County,” King said. “Now that this highway is back open, people on the Gulf Coast will have another way to get their families out of the path of potentially devastating hurricanes.”

Earlier this year, the Mississippi Department of Transportation reopened the Red Creek Bridge on State Route 57. The new $7.7-million bridge replaces the old steel truss bridge, which had been closed since September 2017 after being struck by a truck carrying a track hoe.

The new bridge is concrete and accessible to all forms of traffic, which benefits residents, businesses, commercial vehicles and freight traffic and promotes economic development in the area.