Paving project moving forward, will yield bike lanes on portion of Clinton Boulevard
By Randy Bell
A fresh coat of asphalt should be going down on two of Clinton’s busiest streets in a few months. Once it receives approval from the Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT), the City will advertise for bids to resurface a section of Springridge Road from Woodchase Park Drive to I-20 and Clinton Boulevard from College Street/Mt. Salus Drive to Shaw Road.
A federal Surface Transportation block grant of more than $1.35 million dollars through MDOT will pay for the project, along with a local contribution of about $579,000.
“I would not expect [the work] to begin, if all went well, any earlier than the end of May, first of June,” says Consulting City Engineer Bill Owen.
Clinton had to compete with other local communities for a share of the money, which the Central Mississippi Planning and Development District’s Metropolitan Planning Organization allocated last year.
Owen says daily traffic volume is a key consideration for those block grant funds. On average, about 10,000 vehicles pass through the Springridge segment each day, with a daily traffic count of about 7,400 vehicles on Clinton Boulevard from College Street to Morrison Drive and about 6,300 vehicles from Morrison Drive to Shaw Road.
In addition to getting new pavement, a portion of Clinton Boulevard will undergo a reconfiguration as part of the project. The center turn lane will be eliminated, and bike lanes will be added on both sides.
I hope there are plans to repave Pinehaven from Arrow drive north to the fire station. I realize they are replacing the bridge soon farther north on Pinehaven, but the amount of traffic now on Pinehaven to the fire station is very heavy and the road has so many poor patches on it that it is very rough on vehicles. It is only going to get worse with construction.