The Hideaway Classic Car Club drives across the new Farm-to-Market Road 849 bridge after the the ribbon cutting ceremony Tuesday, March 27, 2018 in Hideaway. (LouAnna Campbell, Tyler Morning Telegraph)

Members of the Hideaway Classic Car Club lined up Tuesday on the Farm-to-Market Road 849 bridge and were the first residents to drive across the newly constructed span over Interstate 20 in Hideaway.

Texas Department of Transportation’s ribbon cutting to open the bridge brought out the public and elected officials before it was opened to traffic. The bridge had been closed for four months after a November crash involving an oversize load that caused major structural damage. 

During that time, traffic was diverted and brought down to one lane on I-20 several times during the construction of the bridge. 

Texas Transportation Commissioner Jeff Austin III said the project was completed ahead of schedule with the least amount of inconvenience to the communities of Hideaway and Lindale. 

“We’re here to celebrate the opening of this new bridge,” Austin said. “However, this shouldn’t have happened to begin with. To the truckers hauling overweight and oversize loads, it’s important to pay attention to routes and bridge heights.”

Austin said although the incident didn’t have to happen, the work between state, local and private entities made the project a success. 

TxDOT officials said the agency decided to build a new structure rather than making costly, less efficient repairs, and put an emergency contract in place to expedite the project.

The agency chose Longview Bridge and Road Ltd. as the contractor because of the company’s timeline for finishing the project, TxDOT officials said.

The ribbon cutting was attended by Ray Hutcheson, Hideaway mayor pro tem; Rob James, general manager of Hideaway Lake Club; Jeff Daugherty, Lindale mayor; Terry Phillips, Smith County Precinct 3 commissioner; Sharon Guthrie, assistant for District 5 state Rep. Cole Hefner; and representatives from TxDOT and Longview Road and Bridge. 

All spoke about the collaboration that went into demolition of the old bridge and construction of the new bridge.

The westbound side of the overpass, located in Hideaway, sustained major structural damage on Nov. 14 when it was hit by an oversize load carrying a tank vessel.

The state’s bridge engineers evaluated the structure and deemed it unsafe for traffic until the replacement bridges were completed. I-20 traffic was routed to the frontage roads with DPS, sheriff’s office deputies and law enforcement officers directing traffic and keeping motorists off the unsafe structure.  

The $4.6 million project is expected to be completed later this spring.The remaining work will continue on the project with normal traffic flowing on the bridge.