Gov. Lee cuts ribbon for Taylor Bridge reopening in Washington County

Yahoo

2 days ago

WASHINGTON COUNTY, Tenn. (WJHL) – Tennessee Governor Bill Lee visited the region Friday to cut the ribbon on Washington County's Taylor Bridge.
The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) reopened the bridge Saturday, nearly 8 months after the rising waters of the Nolichucky River tore through it.
Governor Lee was accompanied by TDOT Commissioner Butch Eley, representatives Rebecca Alexander, Tim Hicks, and Rusty Crowe, as well as Washington County Mayor Joe Grandy.
The governor called it a 'redemptive day' and thanked everyone who worked tirelessly to open the bridge a month early.
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'It took a remarkable community to pull that off,' Lee said. 'The people of this part of the state came together in unprecedented ways to serve one another and to come alongside one another.Local officials, members of the General Assembly, the TDOT workers, the contractors. We had a job to do, and we knew it was urgent and had to be done quickly. This bridge is opening a month early to help alleviate just part of the struggle that this community has seen over the last eight months.'
He said the push to get it done as soon as possible was in the community's best interest.
'The Commissioner said it earlier, but we are talking about steel and concrete and asphalt,' Lee said. 'But this is about people. It's about the people of Upper East Tennessee. The people of Washington County. This is about serving the people. And that is what the effort has been for eight months. And it'll continue to be going forward.'
And thanked the Representatives who made it happen.
'They're advocates,' Lee explained. 'They represent the people in this community. And they knew that people were hurt in this community. So, yes, they called, they advocated, they pushed because it had to be done. And we responded to that because it had to be done. We have continued to build and continue to rebuild. And a lot of it is because of the work of the people in the community and those who represent them.'
TDOT Commissioner Butch Eley said not only were they able to complete the Taylor Bridge project more than a month early, but also that 46 of the 49 roads closed due to Hurricane Helene are now reopened, and the last three are already under contract to be completed by next year.
'We're on the road to recovery here,' Eley said. 'And as the governor said, the asphalt and the steel and the concrete that we see here today do not represent the true community input that we have seen over the last eight months. Since this hurricane hit, it truly has been a community-wide, state-wide effort, including our federal partners. And as you see here today, our state legislature. So, we're close. We're close to the end from a TDOT standpoint, but there's still a lot of people who've been impacted, who are suffering and, the effort continues to go on to help those people as well.'
Washington County Mayor Joe Grandy described the collaboration that had to take place between all parties involved.
'For us, it was it wasn't really hard because we worked together over all the projects,' Grandy said. 'And so, you know, we knew each other, we're friends, we're a team. And so everyone realized how the devastated this community was down here because of the flood. Obviously, people lost homes, and some lives were lost. People lost property and everything. But in addition to that, so much responsibility after we get the people straight, all there is to help build infrastructure. And so roads, bridges, our sanitary convenience center, our highway department, all those things, you know, that fall on local government and our team to put together and to rebuild.'
Governor Lee and Mayor Grandy reflected on the day of the flood. Standing in the same place as they did on Friday, they once wondered how they would rebuild, believing it would take years.
They then described the emotion of the day as the rebuild is complete, less than a year later.
'It's really hard to describe,' Grandy said. 'It is emotional because at that time, we weren't able to get supplies. We weren't able to get, safety equipment in there or ambulances or fire. And we had a whole community that was isolated. I explained how desperate I was. I was not sleeping. And these people came together and helped us make it happen.'
Lee said that there was a time when he felt he had little to no hope.
'The first day I came here, into this community, we met with people whose family members had been lost, whose farms had been destroyed, whose homes had been washed away,' Lee said. 'And it was just a couple of days after the disaster that it felt very hopeless, because of the tragedy that had unfolded and was still unfolding right before us. There were people still missing. There were, you know, families unaccounted for. So in the midst of that tragedy, it felt at times hopeless.'
He commented on the community's teamwork.
'But what happened is this community came together in remarkable ways. And redemption comes by people coming together and serving one another, by elected officials advocating, by TDOT workers, National Guardsmen, and local road officials coming together and putting their hands to the task. And this is an example of that redemption. What seemed hopeless at the moment seems incredibly hopeful for the years ahead for this community.'
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