A Mississippi Department of Transportation project aiming to improve pedestrian safety at the intersection of Highway 12 and Russell Street was recently awarded to a Golden Triangle contractor and is slated to conclude in early fall.
Northern District Transportation Commissioner Mike Tagert confirmed Columbus-based Gregory Construction Services was awarded the project’s contract with a low bid of approximately $1.18 million.
The project, which will update the area’s signalization, add an electronic crosswalk, tend to curb-and-gutter issues and reduce the flared angles at which on-ramps access the roads, has a Sept. 23 completion due date, but Tagert said he is hopeful work will conclude before Mississippi State University’s first home football game on Sept. 3.
Work should begin “any time now,” he said.
This project is a separate part of an overall effort improving pedestrian and bicyclist safety and access points along the corridor commonly referred to as the front door of the university.
Another major project reducing the number of Russell Street lanes and adding sidewalks and bike paths in the created space is also scheduled to begin this year.
“The whole point is to make that area more pedestrian friendly,” Tagert said. “It’s going to be a good project. It won’t reduce capacity, but it will tighten up the area and make it safer for everyone. The reason we pulled it out separately (from the overall Russell Street redesign) is because of the number of pedestrian-related accidents at that intersection, plus we didn’t want the intersection waiting on the larger project. With major projects, there’s no real way to avoid football season. This one was timed so we can try to (complete the intersection project) before the first game.”
Officials say Russell Street improvements are needed since the corridor has seen numerous commercial projects – the hotel and conference center associated with Mark Castleberry’s Mill at MSU, specifically – and housing developments either begin or complete construction last year.
The Russell Street redesign calls for workers to reduce the four-lane road down to two travel lanes and a center turn lane. In the space created from the reduction, bike paths and sidewalks will be added that connect to existing infrastructure accessing downtown, the Cotton District and the university.
Tagert previously estimated the project’s cost at about $900,000. Last year, he said 20 percent of the total cost would come from a joint Starkville-MSU partnership. The remainder, he said, would be funded through a federal alternative transportation program allocation.
“(The intersection redesign) is a project that pairs nicely with the upcoming bike and pedestrian improvements,” Mayor Parker Wiseman said. “These are important improvements for a corridor that is transforming and developing rapidly.”
Wiseman also said the city expects a final report from its Grand Bullyvard study in the next few months.
Last year, Gov. Phil Bryant signed a bill allocating $750,000 for its planning and pre-construction efforts.
A 2011 planning exercise developed the idea of redesigning the portion of Highway 12 stretching from its Spring Street to Russell Street as an urban thoroughfare that increases economic development potential and provides better access points to both the city and university.
Last year, Wiseman estimated the project could take five years to move from conceptual planning to the end of physical work.
“We don’t know exactly what the project will look like, but we know there’s an issue – there’s a physical barrier between the city and university, and it is hindering development issues in one of the most significant areas of town for economic development,” he said last year after the funding stream was approved. “That stretch of land has a ceiling that is amongst the highest of any properties in Starkville in terms of future development. Transportation provides a vital role as to how high that ceiling becomes.”
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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