STARKVILLE — Aldermen on Tuesday approved a $4.4 million bid from APAC for work on 25 roads throughout the city.
Work is expected to begin the first week of May and continue until mid-summer.
The newly approved work is part of a four-year road plan approved in 2021, Mayor Lynn Spruill said. That plan is funded by bonds that will be repaid by internet use tax revenue.
The 2023 phase identifies minor roads, collector roads and local roads that will receive patching and overlay. Most of the minor and collector roads will also be striped.
The city classifies roads into categories based on usage. Minor arteries have the highest usage, while local roads have the lowest. Collector roads typically connect minor arteries to local roads.
After the meeting, Spruill said the usage of the roads is being taken into consideration as the board decides which roads to repair first.
“There’s always a positive improvement being able to drive on good roads that service your community … to look better and drive smoother, and give you the best image possible, which is one of the reasons we’re focusing on the streets that are used by the most people and in the most prominent places in town first,” Spruill said. “We are working our way through prioritizing wisely (our) limited funds.”
The city is planning on patching, overlaying, and striping nine minor arterial roads, which connect major arteries to the collector roads, including Jackson, Academy, Industrial Park, Lampkin, Montgomery, Abernathy, Louisville, Industrial Park and Old West Point.
The city will also be working on eight collector roads. This includes Greenfield, E. Jones Jr., West Main, Fellowship, Hiwassee, Rockhill, South Washington and Willow. All of these roads will be overlaid and patched, but West Main and South Washington will not be striped.
Finally, the city is looking to work on a few local roads: Babylon, Cedar Lane, Francis, Inca, Leflore, Shadowood and Tuxford. These will only be patched and overlaid.
The city will also be filling in a few areas downtown with utility patches, including Main, Lampkin, Washington, Jackson, and Montgomery.
During his presentation Tuesday, City Engineer Cody Burnett said the use tax has allowed the number of road repairs to increase compared to previous years.
Burnett said the “bigger the project, the better the price,” meaning the higher number of streets helped make the project more competitive for bidders and kept the city closer to budget. The city received bids from three different contractors for this year’s road work, ranging from $4.4 to $4.7 million.
“The low bid was less than 1 percent off of the budget estimate,” Burnett said.
Spruill said the city is still looking for ways to mitigate costs, where possible, including by splitting costs with the county, like Leflore and Inca roads.
“We are still hoping to get engaged with the county,” Spruill said. “They had said that they might share with us. Supervisor (Orlando) Trainer said he potentially might be able to share the roads that are in his district with us, so we remain hopeful that that may mitigate some of this. But as it stands, we are prepared to move forward.”
Vice Mayor Roy A. Perkins said he is pleased with the contractor the city selected. He said that, besides being the lowest bid, he hopes it will also result in the best quality work possible.
“With APAC being the lowest and best bidder, they did a lot of our work in the ‘90s … and they did a really good job,” Perkins said.
Starkville street improvement plan
Minor roads
■ Jackson, from Main to Highway 12
■ Academy, from Montgomery to Louisville
■ Lampkin, from Fellowship to Washington
■ Montgomery, from Locksley to Yellowjacket
■ Abernathy, from Hwy 25 to Stark
■ Louisville, from Lynn to prev. Overlay
■ Industrial Park, from Lynn Lane to Louisville
■ Old West Point, from Garrard to City Limits
Collector roads
■ Greenfield, from Montgomery to Evergreen
■ E. Jones Jr., from Hwy 182 to West Main
■ West Main, from Cushman to Raymond
■ Fellowship, from University to Russell
■ Hiwassee, from Carver to Garrard
■ Rockhill, from Hwy 25 bridge to city limits
■ S. Washington, from RR Bridge to Gillespie
■ Willow, from Hwy 12 to Sycamore
Local roads
■ Babylon, from W Garrard to city limits
■ Cedar Lane, from previous overlay to Hillside
■ Francis, from Canna to dead end
■ Inca, from Mohaw to dead end
■ Leflore, from Eutaw to Aztec
■ Shadowood, from Pine Ridge to Bellwood cul-de-sac
■ Tuxford, from Maid Marian to Canterbury
Starkville Utilities Roadway Patching
■ Downtown Area, including Main, Lampkin, Washington, Jackson, and Montgomery
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 47 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
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