Wouldn’t it be nice to cross the street or back out of a parking place near the downtown core without taking your life in your hands?
Tuesday night Columbus City Council agreed to help Main Street Columbus seek grants that would make the area around the Fifth Street North and Main Street intersection less harrowing, as well as adding better wayfinding throughout downtown.
The first project focuses on making the Fifth Street corridor between Main and Second Avenue North safer. The idea came from a safety study Mississippi Department of Transportation produced a few years ago, explained Kevin Stafford, who is both city engineer and the city’s appointee to the Main Street Columbus board.
The roundabout at Harvey’s emerged from that study, as did recommendations for roundabouts at several intersections. Other recommendations have lain fallow, waiting for funding.
The city unsuccessfully pursued funding for the Fifth and Main improvements in 2018.
As it stands now, there are four lanes heading westbound on Main Street: a dedicated right turn lane, two through lanes and a left turn lane, Stafford said. That right turn lane would be turned into parking, so angled parking would be available down the whole block between City Hall and the Rosenzweig Art Center.
The right-hand through lane will become the new right turn lane, and the left-hand through lane and left turn lane will remain, Stafford said. The traffic signals in the area will be managed by radar detection, similar to what is in place on 18th Avenue, to ensure better traffic flow.
“Right now the signals are controlled by loops in the ground, which Columbus Light and Water can’t maintain in-house,” Stafford said. “They can install and maintain (the radar).”
“Bump-outs,” which extend the curb into the street, will be added to each corner to allow people who are parked there more space to back out.
They will also be a huge help to pedestrians, Stafford said.
“Right now your average pedestrian needs to run in track shoes to cross Main Street,” Stafford said. “If you’re standing at the curb you’re standing in front of a parked vehicle, so you can’t see oncoming traffic. … (With the bump-out) the person is also 14 feet closer to the other side of the road.”
Bump-outs will also slow traffic down, as they cause drivers to perceive the road as being narrower, Stafford said.
The project would also add bump-outs to the Second Avenue North and Main Street intersection at Zachary’s and the Lowndes County Courthouse, Stafford said.
These improvements would make downtown much more user-friendly, said Main Street Columbus Director Barbara Bigelow.
“Pedestrians have to be extremely careful at both of those intersections,” Bigelow said. “… I know two people who were hit by a car there at Zachary’s. They had the right of way, but oncoming cars didn’t see them.”
Funding for the approximately $1.1 million project would come from several sources, Stafford said. Main Street is applying for the next round of Mississippi Main Street Revitalization Grant funding and hopes to get about $180,000. That money, along with a $45,000 local match, would then be used to leverage an MDOT Transportation Alternatives Program grant for about $900,000.
Wayfinding
The second piece of the project is improved wayfinding throughout downtown.
“(These signs) will give general directions, point to public parking, point to specific buildings like the Trotter Convention Center or City Hall,” Stafford said.
The idea came from a charette funded by Mississippi Main Street back in 2009, Bigelow said, but was never implemented due to a lack of funding, among other things.
Hopefully the fact that Main Street recommended the wayfinding in the first place will help get the funding now, Stafford said.
“We can put that in front of them … and say you came years ago and suggested this, so now we’d like to use your money,” Stafford said.
The price tag for the wayfinding is $250,000, with $200,000 coming from Mississippi Main Street and the remaining $50,000 as a local match, if approved.
Matching funds
The city will theoretically be on the hook for as much as $95,000 in total matching funds if Main Street Columbus receives the grants, but there are still some hurdles, Bigelow said. The legislature next year will have to decide whether to even fund the next round of Main Street grants.
Main Street Columbus will also approach other entities, including the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors, to ask for help with the match, Stafford said.
Lowndes County Board of Supervisors President Trip Hairston said he hasn’t heard a formal request from the city or Main Street Columbus yet.
“If they approach us with anything, we’ll consider it,” Hairston said. “I don’t think anybody on the board would say, ‘No, don’t come ask us for that.’”
Even if the project is approved by Mississippi Main Street, the earliest matching funds would have to be paid is Fiscal Year 2026, Stafford said. Internet use tax money would be used for the match.
The council approved the matching funds at Tuesday’s meeting on a 4-2 vote.
Ward 5 Councilman Stephen Jones argued the city should wait before obligating the money.
“I can’t see how we can approve this until we find out where the money’s going to come from,” Jones said. “I’m not taking it out of my paving money.”
“The paving is coming out of FY 23/24,” Stafford said. “This money won’t be needed until two fiscal years from now.”
Ward 3 Councilman Rusty Greene moved, with a second by Ward 4 Councilman Pierre Beard, to obligate the matching funds. Ward 2 Councilman Joseph Mickens and Jones voted no.
Brian Jones is the local government reporter for Columbus and Lowndes County.
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