Parker’s Lake Bridge officially open in Jackson County

People gathered at Parker’s Lake Bridge for a ribbon cutting to mark the end of a year long project.

The bridge on Wade-Vancleave Road has been closed since March of last year as a new one was built. Wade-Vancleave is one of only five crossings between the east and west side of the Pascagoula River.

Locals have been patiently waiting for this reopening, but there is something extra special about this bridge now.

The new Parker’s Lake Bridge is being dedicated to former conservation officer Keith Carter, who spent his life fishing and working in Parker Lake. He died in July 2021.

Carter used to write Keith Bond tickets before training him in the same line of work. “Keith Carter, the most successful, most dedicated conservation officer in the history of the Mississippi Department of Fisheries and Parks gave a great deal of his life to this area and to Jackson County. And I can’t think of anyone more deserving of an honor like this then General Carter.”

This is not the end of construction on Wade-Vancleave Road. Roy O. Cumbest Bridge is next to be rebuilt.