By BOBBY MATHEWS

BOBBY.MATHEWS@DEMOPOLISTIMES.COM

DEMOPOLIS — Drivers will find at least one local roadway blocked off today when the city shuts down the Morgan Street Bridge to vehicular traffic.

The bridge — the only wooden bridge in the city — will still be open to pedestrian and bicycle traffic.

“This is a part of the council’s action to protect the bridge until it can be repaired or replaced,” Department of Public Works Superintendent Mike Baker said. “This is a temporary measure by the council.”

The city had already lowered the weight limit on the bridge to keep larger trucks off of it.

“We know this isn’t going to be very popular,” Baker said. “But we have to do it to get it off the Department of Transportation list.”

Bridges are inspected every two years by the state, but bridges like the Morgan Street Bridge — once they do not pass inspection — are inspected every month.

The opening on either side of the bridge will be narrowed to four feet wide, Baker said, and the city will try to keep the look of the bridge substantially the same.

“We will start work in the morning,” Baker said.