The Mississippi Department of Transportation has two projects underway in Columbus.
The first, and most daunting, is a set of upgrades at two Highway 82 interchanges, to be followed by two roundabout installations at the Military Road-Highway 82 interchange and the intersection of Main and Second streets downtown. The project’s goal is to manage traffic flow at the Highway 82-18th Avenue North and Highway 82-Military Road interchanges.
The cost of the Highway 82 projects is $4.8 million, while MDOT has set aside another $717,400 to complete the roundabout at Main and Second streets.
The project, which began about a month and a half ago, has not seen any serious delays since contractors with Columbus-based Gregory Construction broke ground, said MDOT engineer Mike Miller, who works out of the MDOT Starkville Project Office and is in charge of the project.
“We’re trying to get the ramps on (Highway 82) widened,” he said. “That’s our first priority. We’re going to take care of Highway 82 first, make those improvements, then move on to Military Road.”
Improvements at the 18th Avenue North interchange include a dual-lane southbound exit ramp to better accommodate high traffic flow through the intersection. It includes the installation of a traffic signal where the ramp merges with 18th Avenue North. That signal, along with traffic signals at two other intersections with the on- and off-ramps for the highway and 18th Avenue, will be synchronized with the traffic light at the 18th Avenue-Fifth Street North intersection to allow better traffic flow. Ramps both on and off Highway 82 from 18th Avenue will be widened to accommodate an additional lane.
The $4.8 million project is fully funded by MDOT and is currently “on budget and on time,” Miller said, adding construction crews will be laying down asphalt and completing ramp widening in the coming weeks.
“As work progresses, it’ll be easier to see the progress,” he added. “Right now, it hasn’t impacted traffic yet. … Maybe when the new lights go in, but I don’t see that being too bad.”
The only issue the project faced came earlier in the year when rains and flooding prevented work crews from breaking ground because everything was too wet.
“Getting started was what was difficult, but progress hasn’t been behind aside from that,” he said. “By the schedule we’re going by, we’re set to be done on time. But this is really the initial stuff we’re doing right now.”
Miller estimates the entire Military Road-Highway 82 project will be completed by next May, adding the Main Street-Second Street roundabout project is not scheduled to begin construction until next year.
City Engineer Kevin Stafford, who works for Neel-Schaffer, told The Dispatch that, since the entire project is funded by MDOT, the city has little to no involvement in the construction process.
“When we get questions about (the project) or have questions, I just go straight to (Miller),” he said. “Since MDOT is providing all the funding, it’s a state project.”
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