A portion of U.S. 11 to soon be widened to five lanes

Local News

March 14, 2009

By Jeremy Pittari Picayune Item Sat Mar 14, 2009, 07:43 PM CDT

PICAYUNE — Additional funding to increase the traffic flow on a portion of U.S. 11 in Picayune has been approved.

Construction to widen the heavily traveled highway to five lanes tentatively will begin late summer of this year, said County Administrator Adrain Lumpkin.

For about a year, funding to improve the traffic flow has been sought. It was not until earlier this month that funding was officially approved, Lumpkin said. In total, about $13 million will be used to five lane the road from the intersection with the entry and exit road at Hide-A-Way Lake to an undetermined point just before U.S. 11 crosses Hobolochitto Creek.

With construction of the new hospital anticipated to begin in the very near future, a major increase in traffic is expected, Lumpkin said. Together, Pearl River County and Forrest General Hospital, which now owns the old Crosby Memorial Hospital renamed Highland Hospital, agreed to apply for the Mississippi Development Authority Economic Development funds of about $5 million worth. The size of the new hospital’s investment gave the county the opportunity to apply for an additional $2.5 million from Community Development Block Grant funds. The Mississippi Department of Transportation also has agreed to donate another $5 million.

Lumpkin said the best part of the grant is that the county is required put up matching funds of only $1,300, to receive the $13 million.

“That’s what we got to come up with to match... that’s a pretty good grant ratio there,” Lumpkin said.

While that work will five lane the road in that section, engineering work will be needed to bring the lanes back to two before reaching the bridge.

Once construction begins, it is expected to take about 24 to 36 months to complete, Lumpkin said.

District V Supervisor Sandy Kane Smith said that when he was running for office he knew the new hospital coming into that area would make it necessary to deal with the increased traffic. There already have been a number of accidents in the area of the shopping center where Claiborne Hill is located, so Smith expects there to be more traffic problems when hospital is constructed.

“We knew we had to do something with Highway 11 to help the hospital, make it work,” Smith said.

Lumpkin and Smith said they appreciate the MDA, the hospital, Gov. Haley Barbour’s office and MDOT for their parts in securing the funding.

“It almost fell through the cracks, but they manned up,” Smith said.

Text Only

Local News

POLICE MEMORIAL
City employees were out at the Picayune Police Department memorial Thursday morning doing some upgrades to it.

May 25, 2012 1 Photo
ACCIDENT ACCIDENT — Emergency personnel responded to this accident Thursday morning on South Haugh Avenue.
May 25, 2012 1 Photo
Supervisors support sales tax proposal
The Pearl River County Board of Supervisors unanimously supports District 1 Supervisor Anthony Hales proposal for a 1-percent county sales tax.
Hales had outlined his proposal at two earlier meetings of the board of supervisors and the other four members voiced their support for the idea at Wednesday’s meeting.

May 25, 2012
Lawrence sentenced to 57 months for child porn
Picayune native Clifford Lawrence has been sentenced to four years and nine months in prison for possession of child pornography.

May 25, 2012
WORK UNDERWAY WORK UNDERWAY — Foundation work on Nicholson Elementary’s multi-purpose building is underway. The building is expected to be complete by spring of next year and will provide the surrounding community with a place to hold events.
May 24, 2012 1 Photo
Washing Water Tower
WASHING WATER TOWER — These workers were spray-cleaning the water tower at Pearl River Community College at Poplarville last week.

May 24, 2012 1 Photo
New, old law makers tout legislative successes
Four state law makers held a legislative review for members of the Greater Picayune Area Chamber of Commerce at the newly opened Southern Char restaurant Tuesday night to share with business owners information about new bills and laws that have been passed.

May 24, 2012 1 Photo
School board approves step raises
Picayune teachers and other staff members should receive step pay increases next year, following some debate on the matter during Tuesday’s meeting of the Picayune Municipal Separate School District.

May 23, 2012
PRC GRADUATION
PRC GRADUATION — At left, Pearl River Central High School Valedictorian Layton Spiers addresses the PRC Senior Class of 2012. At right, PRC Salutatorian Hayden Skantz addresses the graduating class. PRC High School held its graduation exercises Monday night in the school’s football stadium.

May 23, 2012 1 Photo
PMHS GRADUATION SPEAKERS
PMHS GRADUATION SPEAKERS — From left valedictorian Jared Christopher Bates and salutatorian Bryce Austin Warden will lead Picayune Memorial High School’s graduation ceremonies at 7 p.m. Thursday at the football stadium.

May 23, 2012 1 Photo
More Local News Headlines

Local News

Search Results

A portion of U.S. 11 to soon be widened to five lanes

Site Map

Contact Us