PICAYUNE —
Work to widen U.S. Highway 11 in Picayune is expected to begin in the next four years — this time the project is projected to start in 2016 — until that time preparation work will take place.
Earlier this year, the Mississippi Department of Transportation, at a meeting in Hattiesburg with local officials, had announced that the project would start in 2015 rather than the 2013 start time promised earlier.
The $10 million project will widen U.S. Hwy. 11 to four lanes with a center turning lane from Hide-A-Way Lake to the Hobolochitto Creek bridge, and a separately funded project now scheduled to take place at the same time will replace and widen that bridge. Sidewalks are planned for both the highway and the bridge.
Right-of-way acquisition will be the most time-consuming aspect of the project, expected to take about two years due to legal processes. The Mississippi Department of Transportation has planned for the legal aspect of the project, and expects right-of-way acquisition to be complete by October of 2014, said District Engineer Kelly Castleberry.
From the intersection of Mississippi Highway 43 North south to the U.S. Hwy. 11 bridge right-of-way acquisition will not be needed, but businesses will have to relinquish the 75 feet of right of way already owned by MDOT that businesses are using for parking lots.
“There are a lot of businesses that are using that property right now that they do not own,” Castleberry said.
Castleberry said from the intersection of Miss. Hwy. 43 to the entrance of Hide-A-Way Lake right of way 50 feet in width on each side will have to be purchased from individuals or businesses.
The project will include a sidewalk that will run from the intersection of Miss. 43N to the bridge. Castleberry said the U.S. Hwy. 11 bridge will be replaced with a wider bridge capable of four lanes and including a pedestrian walkway. A hydrologic survey being conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey will determine how long the bridge will have to be, but Castleberry said if any changes will be made to the length the bridge, it would be longer, not shorter.
Both the widening of U.S. Hwy. 11 and the replacement of the bridge are expected to begin late in 2016, and take a year to a year and a half to complete, Castleberry said.
Adjustments to Richardson Ozona Road also will take place, but will be done by the county using $1.5 million in MDOT funding. Castleberry said Richardson Ozona Road will no longer connect directly to U.S. Hwy. 11 when the work is complete. Instead, a new road will be constructed that will run behind where Richardson Ozona Road exit onto U.S. Hwy. 11, the Mexican Restaurant and the Picayune Item office are located and connect to Richardson Ozona Road near or past Hayden Oaks Road. The new road will intersect with U.S. Hwy. 11 across from Highland Commons Parkway, creating a four-way stop.
Transportation Commissioner Tom King confirmed that initially the U.S. Hwy. 11 widening project was supposed to four-lane U.S. Hwy. 11 all the way through downtown Picayune. While that work would have severely impacted businesses, the reason the project never took place was due to a lack of funding.
The widening project has been pushed back numerous times and has changed scope a few times. Completion dates have ranged widely since the project has continuously been pushed back. County District 4 Supervisor Patrick Lee said he is confident that this time, under new leadership, MDOT will complete the project. Lee said he believes that with King as this district’s commissioner, Pearl River County is no longer on the bottom of the project list.
“It is so refreshing to have a commissioner we can communicate with,” Lee said.
Lee said the previous district commissioner, Wayne Brown, continuously disregarded the needs of Pearl River County.
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PEERING AT MAP — Business owners and city and county officials attended a meeting with the Mississippi Department of Transportation Thursday to hear about a project that will widen U.S. Hwy. 11 from HAWL to the Hobolochitto Creek bridge to five lanes. A separate project that should take place at the same time will also replace the bridge. Photo by Jeremy Pittari
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