STARKVILLE — Starkville has accepted $1.1 million from the state to begin the northern phase of the Spring Street connector project, bringing the area simplified lanes, expanded sidewalk and room for bikes.
The city accepted the money during Tuesday’s board of alderman meeting, passed without discussion as part of its consent agenda.
City Engineer Cody Burnett told The Dispatch this third phase of the Spring Street Connector will drop Spring Street from four passing lanes to two, with a third middle turning lane.
“That stretch of Highway 12 between that intersection and South Montgomery Street is the highest traffic count in the city,” he said. “You’re running around 28,000 cars a day through that stretch. A massive number of vehicles, more than our base population just in vehicles not even on gameday. … The intersection is so big, it’s really daunting and overwhelming on foot. I’d encourage anybody to go try, it’s really a scary place to walk without these improvements.”
This phase will run along Spring Street from Russell Street to Highway 12 near Chick-Fil-A.
The removed traffic lane will make room for bike and scooter lanes on either side of the road. Sidewalks will also be expanded and repaired, with the aim of making the entire stretch easier on walkers and compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“(We want to) upgrade the sidewalk on at least one side of the road depending on funding, probably the east side,” Burnett said. “… There is some existing sidewalk but most of it is of insufficient width, and what is there is either broken or not ADA compliant. We’ll remove everything that’s existing and then do a full replacement with a five- or six-foot wide sidewalk.”
This is the third phase of the Spring Street Connector project, with the first phase of redoing the Highway 12 intersection wrapping up in 2023. The second phase received bids in March but was 14% over budget, requiring a second bidding process under MDOT rules before the lowest bid can be accepted.
The grant is technically federal money distributed through the Transportation Alternatives Program, which supplies 80% of the funding for approved alternative transit projects. At least 20%, in this case $220,000, needs to be supplied by the city. The portion can go higher if planners want to complete optional work beyond the approved scope.
Now that the board of aldermen has accepted the money and given the mayor the power to activate the project, it moves into the design stage. Burnett said they will be using the same engineering contractor that designed the other first and second phases, Garver Engineering, but could take a while since it also has to run through design review by the state.
“I’d imagine we’re looking at around a year from now to have a design set of plans,” he said. “It’s not just the city reviewing the plans, they have to go through MDOT’s review process, which is stringent, as it should be. … Hopefully we’re beginning construction (in the) middle of the summer next year, maybe into the fall of 2026 as a rough timeline.”
Mayor Lynn Spruill applauded the beginning of the project, saying she looks forward to adding it to the city’s network of improved sidewalks and that traffic studies say the lane reduction won’t have too much of an impact on congestion.
“I’m excited that we got $1.1 million from the Mississippi Department of Transportation,” she said. “Commissioner (John) Caldwell has been wonderful to us and I’m looking forward to getting that project connected to everything else we’ve done. … No (I’m not worried about congestion), and that’s driven by numbers.”
Airport land buy approved
The board also unanimously approved $30,000 annually to Golden Triangle Regional Airport to repay a loan buying 109 acres next to the airport.
That deal requires $1.1 million total, with financial responsibility distributed among the surrounding cities and counties proportional to their stake in the airport. Starkville approved repaying its share over 10 years.
As presented, Lowndes County and Columbus, with 25% stakes, would pay $37,500 annually. Oktibbeha County and Starkville, with 20% stakes, would each pay $30,000 annually. Clay County and West Point, with 5% stakes, would each pay $7,500 annually.
Columbus City Council voted Monday to pay its share in a one-time upfront payment of $275,000, which would save about $100,000 in interest over 10 years if the deal goes through.
Clay County has already approved the deal. Lowndes County, Oktibbeha County and West Point will take it up the week of April 7.
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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 36 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
