The Mississippi Department of Transportation will soon begin three projects to upgrade more than 18 miles of state highways in Lowndes County.

John Caldwell, Northern District transportation commissioner for Mississippi, told Columbus Exchange Club members on Thursday the projects will be on Highways 82, 69 and 45 North Alternate. Work is expected to begin later this year on Highway 82, while the other projects will start in 2024.

The first project will repave 1 mile on Highway 82 East, beginning at the intersection of Military Road. Caldwell said the project cost roughly $19.8 million.

“We have tried to take into account the conditions of all the roads,” he said during the Exchange Club’s meeting at Lion Hills Center. “But one thing that was getting left out were some of these lesser traveled highways.”

Next will be milling and overlaying 2.8 miles of Highway 69 between Granderson Creek and Highway 182, then improving about 15 miles of Highway 45 North Alternate between the Noxubee and Clay County lines.

Caldwell said the cost for the Highway 69 project has not been estimated yet, but the Highway 45 Alternate work will cost about $7.9 million.

The Mississippi Department of Transportation has a budget of about $1.8 billion, Caldwell said. MDOT usually receives about $1.2 billion each year from state and federal fuel tax revenue. But in 2022, the state authorized another $450 million for future road-building projects. The department also received an additional $70 million for infrastructure needs from the state and federal governments.

“That was a huge increase,” he said. “Now, we will be able to spread some more love around.”

Caldwell will also continue asking for additional funds from the state to keep up with the demand for new roads and continued maintenance of the state’s highway system.

“We’re coming back this year to ask for more money to start working our way down the priority list,” he said. “… We started (this year) with more money than we’ve ever had, but not enough money to go through and do a four-lane highway program or something like that.”

Caldwell added another issue facing MDOT is a lack of workforce throughout his district to maintain right of ways and do landscaping work. The Department employs about 2,000 people but needs at least 250 more to keep the grass along the highways more consistently, he said.

“We’re facing this issue because our starting pay is about $12 an hour, and you don’t have to talk to (Golden Triangle Development LINK CEO) Joe Max Higgins to realize there are a lot higher pay jobs around here,” Caldwell said. “So, we’re all borrowing from Peter to pay Paul to get some basic grass cutting and stuff. We did have to contract a large chink of it.”