City officials are asking residents to take an online survey that could lead to millions in federal grant money to make street conditions safer.
The survey went live Oct. 23 and garnered more than 50 responses in just the first three days, said Kevin Stafford, North Mississippi manager for the Neel-Schaffer engineering firm who also serves as the city’s engineer. It will remain open through Nov. 22.
Part of the Federal Highway Administration’s Safe Streets and Roads for All Grant Program, Stafford said Columbus is in the fourth year of a five-year process to create a study for road safety and pedestrian connectivity challenges throughout the city. FHA provided $160,000 for the study, and the city has committed a $40,000 match.
“This study is really more focused on curbing fatalities and serious accidents,” Stafford told The Dispatch on Wednesday.
Stafford said the study is required before the city can apply for implementation grants, which run from $5 million to $25 million.
“They are pretty big grants,” Stafford said. “It would fix some problems if you truly had issues causing deaths and accidents.”
Part of the study, Stafford said, is compiling Department of Transportation data showing where collisions with fatalities and injuries have occurred. The survey asks for public feedback on what residents have observed, and whether it’s behavioral (speeding, running stop signs, impaired or distracted driving) or infrastructure concerns (poor striping or timing at an intersection, no sidewalks, etc.).
Survey takers can also place Geographic Information System locator pins on a map and categorize the pins by issue type, Stafford said.
“What you hope is that where you see issues from the public is also where you’re also seeing accidents occurring,” Stafford said. “… Then the study will take all that data and see what’s wrong. It may bring out 100 issues. It will prioritize those issues and put costs to them.”
While all that is happening, Stafford said a team of engineers will also take note through the city where sidewalks are lacking and where it can add other transportation modes.
“Columbus doesn’t have a lot of bike lanes,” he said as an example. “So we’ll look at where there are opportunities for that.”
The study should be complete and a public report ready by spring, Stafford said.
“I am very pleased that we have this opportunity to improve the quality of life for our citizens by discovering the best ways to improve our streets and roads,” Mayor Keith Gaskin said in a press release announcing the survey. “This project will guide future safety improvements for our city for years to come which means we need to hear from as many citizens as possible. The work we are doing could literally save lives, so I’m urging everyone to take the time to respond to this short survey.”
If Columbus’ neighbor to the west is any indicator, Gaskin has cause to be excited.
After completing its study, Starkville landed an $8 million grant to build a roundabout at the intersection of Garrard Road and the Highway 12 bypass, near Walmart Neighborhood Market.
The roundabout is meant to slow down traffic exiting from Highway 82, after the study showed accidents with some injuries in that corridor, Mayor Lynn Spruill told The Dispatch.
Ground should break on the project some time in 2026, she said, and the roundabout should also help with multi-modal connectivity in the area.
“Right now, you can’t get to the neighborhood Walmart in a safe condition (as a pedestrian or bicyclist) because of the speed of the traffic. There’s really no pedestrian or bike access,” she said. “… It also creates a nice entry to the community, so it serves a number of purposes.”
The survey is available at https://www.thecityofcolumbusms.org/SS4A.
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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