Clinton gets federal grant for Pinehaven paving, Paving Contractor Approved

By Randy Bell

Plans are being made for Pinehaven Drive from Berry Drive to Williamson Road to be repaved next year.

The same federal transportation program which helped to pay for resurfacing Clinton Boulevard and a portion of Springridge Road last year will now partially finance a fresh coat of asphalt on Pinehaven Drive – but not until next year.

Clinton has been awarded a $1.082 million Surface Transportation Block Grant (STBG) to pave the busy road in the fast-growing northern part of the city. A $464,000 local match was required to get the grant. The project will extend from near Berry Drive to Williamson Road along the two-lane section of Pinehaven.

Consulting City Engineer Bill Owen says, “The next step in the process will not occur until August with a project kickoff meeting with the Central Mississippi Planning and Development District (CMPDD) and the Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT), after which a memorandum of agreement will be approved by the City and MDOT.”

In January, CMPDD received applications from cities and counties throughout the Jackson metro area, which were evaluated and the projects scored. On May 13, the CMPDD Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) approved a total of $34.1 million in funding for twenty-two projects receiving the highest scores, including the work that’s planned on Pinehaven.

“Based on the approvals and reviews required, I would anticipate the schedule will be similar to the previous STBG project improvements on Clinton Boulevard and Springridge Road,” Owen says. “If that is the case, then I would expect the approval to advertise for these improvements would be given sometime in March/April of 2027.”

Paving contract approved with money left over

By Randy Bell

Some smoother streets are in Clinton’s future. A Jackson company has been awarded an $827,547 contract to resurface thirteen streets which were chosen for the annual paving program based on their condition. Adcamp, Inc. had the lowest bid among the four contractors who sought the contract.

Consulting City Engineer Bill Owen says many of those streets will have to be milled before they can be paved. He says the decision on when the project can start will be somewhat dependent on the company’s schedule.

“But I would expect that they would want to begin work sometime during the middle to the end of June,” said Owen.

Helping to limit the number of streets that could be paved was the rising price of asphalt and other increased costs.

“The base repair was double from last year,” Owen says. “The surface course was thirty per cent higher, and milling was double from last year.”

Still, the bid came in more than $172,000 below the $1 million which the City had budgeted for paving this year.

Mayor Will Purdie says no decision has been made on how to spend the money that’s left over.

“Certainly, there’s always the option to do more paving.”

But Purdie says the money could be spent on streets in a different way.

According to the mayor, “There’s some areas that are in very bad need of updated striping. That’s another option that we’re looking at. But my intention and expectation is that any excess sums will go directly back into pavement or pavement markings.”

If the City chooses to do additional paving, Owen says he’ll use the street ranking list to recommend which ones to include, based on the money available and the length of the streets.

List of streets which are currently scheduled to be paved by the City of Clinton this year:

• Pinehaven Place, From Pinehaven Road to dead end
• Tulane Drive, From Springridge Road to dead end
• Crest View Drive, From Cedar Hill Drive to dead end
• Lakeridge Cove, From Lakeridge Lane to cul-de-sac
• Alexandria Court, From Middleton Place to Charleston Avenue
• Briarwood Drive, From Normandy to Tanglewood Drive
• Cherry Ridge Drive, From Cherry Stone Circle to Cherry Stone Circle
• Crosskeys Drive, From Stonegate Drive to Indian Mound
• Dove Way Circle, From Pheasant Run to cul-de-sac
• Dunton Road, From railroad to Mallory Street
• Dunton Road, From Mallory Street to Hillcrest Drive
• Glen Auburn Drive, From Oak Meadows Drive to cul-de-sac
• Glendale Street, From Larado Drive to Lovett Street