Clinton looks at Pinehaven paving project
By Randy Bell
Clinton Boulevard and a portion of Springridge Road were paved this year with the help of federal Surface Transportation Block Grant (STBG) funding, and Clinton will go after another grant next year, this time with Pinehaven Drive possibly being the beneficiary.
It’s a highly competitive program, and the City will be required to have some significant skin in the game to increase its chances of receiving a grant. The estimated cost of resurfacing the two-lane section of Pinehaven from north of Arrow Drive to Williamson Road is $1.62 million. A thirty per cent match would cost Clinton $540,000 after certain additional expenses, including planning, design permitting and surveying, are factored in.
“Certainly, the more match that you’re willing to contribute, the better score you’ll ultimately have,” says Mayor Will Purdie, and those scores will determine which proposals are chosen.
“I do think it represents a value to the City and certainly allows us a way to multiply our dollars and get more miles of road paved,” Purdie says. Clinton offered a thirty per cent match to win the $1.35 million grant that helped to fund the paving on Springridge and Clinton Boulevard.
But why Pinehaven?
“Based on the monies and based on the available match, it would probably score the highest out of all the streets that are eligible to get those funds,” says Consulting City Engineer Bill Owen. “Only streets that are designated as collector, minor arterial or principal arterial are eligible [for the STBG funding].”
According to Owen, “Pinehaven Drive, McRaven Road, Midway Road, St. Thomas Parkway and Clinton Industrial Park Drive are eligible this time.”
Pinehaven is considered a minor arterial street, as is North Midway, while McRaven, St. Thomas and Clinton Industrial Park Drive are classified as collectors.
The next step is for the Board of Aldermen to consider the STBG proposal.
“If they voted to approve it, we would submit an application in January, and the funded projects would be known in May of 2026,” Owen says.
Clinton will be competing with other communities in the Jackson metropolitan area for a share of $11 million in pavement management funds. The Mississippi Department of Transportation administers the federal money.
