With warm weather upon us, drivers in Starkville should be prepared for detours and road closures over the next few months as construction crews are scheduled to repave more streets this year than any other building season in recent memory.
Approximately 14.5 miles of city roads are scheduled to be repaved this summer, compared to 12.4 miles in 2009, City Engineer Edward Kemp said Thursday.
Crews from Columbus-based Falcon Contracting began milling 2.27 miles of city roads Monday and completed a majority of the work by Wednesday. By Thursday, Falcon Contracting had repaved South Montgomery Street from Locksley Way to Yellow Jacket Drive, and the eastbound and westbound lanes of South Montgomery Street from Academy Road to Lynn Lane. The center turning lane still needed to be repaved.
Falcon Contracting is scheduled to repave Yellow Jacket Drive from Eckford Street to Louisville Street today. Crews today also are scheduled to repave portions of Louisville Street.
Next week, crews will repave Louisville Street from Yellow Jacket Drive to the railroad tracks north of Highway 12; Jackson Street from Green Street to Highway 12; University Drive from North Montgomery Street to the bridge over Highway 12; and North Montgomery Street from Lampkin Street to Highway 182.
The paving projects are being funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The second phase of ARRA projects includes the repaving of remaining portions of Louisville Street and Whitfield Street.
The 4.55 miles of road improvements cost a combined $971,307.
Another 9.9 miles of roads are scheduled to be repaved this spring and summer with city funds and bond money, Kemp said. The Dispatch will print updates on upcoming road work every Sunday beginning April 10.
“There is going to be a lot going on this summer,” Kemp said. “There will be some road closures. There will be some detours. We just encourage everybody to bear with us while we try to make these improvements. I know it”s inconvenient, but it”s necessary in order to get the work done.”
Standing along Jackson Street Thursday morning, Falcon Contracting President Neal Coker watched as employee Lashante James worked a jackhammer and crews gathered the debris. Coker, too, encouraged drivers to be patient.
“When you have the volume of traffic like you do in Starkville … you just have to ask people to be patient,” Coker said.
You can help your community
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 34 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
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 34 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
