COLUMBUS – Crews were out bright and early by 6 a.m. Friday taping off areas along Main Street and repainting crosswalks, part of a $27,000 temporary safety measure project to slow down traffic and prioritize pedestrian safety.
City Engineer Kevin Stafford said the work, which mainly involves striping and installing enlarged reflectors to serve as temporary bumpouts, should be completed this afternoon and will change how drivers navigate intersections throughout the corridor.
“It’s a safety move for everybody,” Stafford told The Dispatch on Friday. “It slows traffic down, it gives cover to pedestrians, … cars backing out are going to be in a safer situation. All the things should be better and safer for … downtown.”
With the new safety measures, the outermost westbound lane between Seventh and Sixth streets will become a right-turn lane. Between Fourth and Sixth, westbound traffic flow will reduce to one through lane and one right-turn lane, with the existing right-turn lane from Main to Fifth – in front of Rosenzweig Arts Center – eliminated and converted into 12 angled parking spots.
As for eastbound traffic, there will be one through lane and one right-turn lane between Fourth and Fifth streets. Traffic will then reduce to one eastbound lane on the Fifth Street block before opening back to two lanes after the Sixth Street intersection.
Left turn lanes from both directions will remain as they are.
Temporary bumpouts will be installed at the northeast corner of Sixth and Main and at all four corners of Main and Fifth to help reduce the roadway space pedestrians must cross at intersections in the corridor, making it safer for parked traffic to back out and enter the roadway.
To mitigate confusion of new changes, signage will be posted along with freshly-painted arrows in each lane to keep drivers moving in the right direction, Stafford said.
A study in 2017 prescribed these measures along the Main Street corridor, Stafford said, but three years later a Mississippi Department of Transportation grant instead funded the roundabout at Second Street and Main, in front of Harvey’s restaurant, because it deemed that intersection more dangerous at the time.
Permanent fixes
The temporary measures will remain in place until funding is secured for permanent upgrades, which could come as soon as spring 2027.
The city is pursuing three potential funding sources to replace the temporary measures with curb and gutter, permanent bumpouts and signal improvements.
The most accessible option is a $380,000 grant from Mississippi Main Street, awarded to Columbus Main Street in 2024 to redesign the intersections at Fifth and Main streets and Fifth Street and Second Avenue North. However, the funds have remained in limbo after the legislation approving the grant did not include funding for administration through the Mississippi Development Authority.
“That award is just sitting there,” Stafford told The Dispatch. “… This year, we’re hearing that legislative move is going to move forward. … So we’re hopeful and being told that that money now will trickle down, and that project will be able to move forward.”
Stafford said the city expects to learn whether the grant will be released after the state Senate session adjourns April 5. The prior council agreed in 2024 to a full match for the grant, with the board of supervisors committing to cover one-third.
If awarded, the grant would fund permanent improvements at Fifth and Main and Fifth Street and Second Avenue North, along with downtown signage directing visitors to “places of larger congregation” like City Hall and the Columbus-Lowndes Public Library.
The city has also applied for $3.2 million in congressional direct spending, which required a 20% match and would fund improvements from Main Street to Fifth Street. Stafford said expects a decision by summer or late fall.
A $12.4 million BUILD grant application submitted last month would fund the full scope of permanent changes and more. The grant would allot funds to implement similar improvements from Harveys, located at 200 Main Street, to Sixth Street, as well as upgrades to safety and pedestrian/biker access along Fifth Street between Columbus Light and Water headquarters and the Magnolia Bowl.
A decision on the BUILD grant may not come until next year, potentially pushing construction to as late as 2028 or 2029, Stafford said.
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