The Highland Commons Parkway leads to the woods.

Discussion of this project began four years ago, and its purpose is to expedite traffic to Highland Hospital from the interstate, but the road comes to a dead end in front of the Trinity United Methodist Church.

Three entities have been involved in the project, Highland Hospital, Pearl River County and  Cooper Company and only two have just about completed their designated sections.

The county has done “to the end of the black top,” County Administrator Adrain Lumpkin said last week. “We just have to put the street lights up.”

To the west, Highland Hospital has done a portion of the project and that portion stops at the woods as well.

The section of road that would tie the two ends together is the responsibility of the developer, Cooper Company, Lumpkin said. “They have started some, they have the road base,” he said.  

The project is mainly waiting on environmental permits to be reissued, said Brooks Wallace of Dungan Engineering on Monday.

“Once it is started, we’re probably looking at six months to build,” Wallace said.

Area surrounding the parkway is known as the Highland Commons, which is a planned unit development consisting of 300 acres that will be half residential and half commercial.

“Once it is built, it will really change the traffic flow,” Wallace said.

Carle and Andy Cooper of Cooper Company were unable to be contacted.

Regarding other road projects, the board of supervisors, at its last meeting, approved a motion to accept a quote from Huey Stockstill Inc. for building up the base on Sycamore Road.

Approximately one mile of road will be reconstructed and built up.

“Today was a big step, getting that quote,” Board President Patrick Lee said when the vote was taken.

“We are going to try to expedite the project because that road is so heavily trafficked.

“Once we get the base in place, it will need to sit for a brief time before an asphalt overlay is placed,” he said.

“We will mill up the road this week,” Planning and Development Director Ed Pinero said on Monday.

This stage of the project will take one work week, Pinero said.

The project as a whole will take about a month.