Motorists traveling along one of the Golden Triangle’s busiest stretches of road will soon begin to see improvements as the Highway 12 safety project moves along on schedule.
The Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) hopes to have the project completed before the holiday shopping season and work will continue into the beginning of football season on the safety upgrades.
Northern District Transportation Commissioner Mike Tagert spoke to the Starkville Rotary Club on Monday to give updates on the Highway 12 project and other MDOT efforts underway in the area.
Tagert said the upgrades - which include raised medians and improved signalization - will be finished by the end of October or the first of November, if not impacted by inclement weather.
“We molded that project to do most of the work at night to reduce impact to the traveling public,” Tagert said. “We are at the apex of the construction problems and delays and think most of that will be over in the next month.”
The improvements come following a safety audit conducted in 2015, which showed a staggering number of wrecks along the stretch of highway.
The audit found over 60 months, 1,664 crashes took place. This resulted in a yearly average of 100 injuries and millions of dollars in personal property damage.
“That’s almost an accident per day, every single day, for five years,” Tagert said. “That’s why this route was on our radar.”
Tagert said while the raised medians will present a certain level of beautification to the busy stretch of road, the primary goal is to reduce right-angle collisions, while also improving mobility and traffic flow.
Additionally, outdated traffic signals will be replaced with fiber optic connected signalization, which will help monitor and improve congestion.
“It’s going to allow us to more finely tune timing and allows the entire route to communicate,” Tagert said. “The fiber optic connection is really going to have a significant impact.”
OTHER PROJECTS:
Another notable transportation infrastructure project for the area is the South Entrance Road Project on the Mississippi State campus.
Tagert lauded the economic development opportunities following the completion of the South Entrance project and said the on-campus endeavor is expected to be finished by Friday, just in time for the first home football game.
While primarily a MSU-funded project, MDOT provided construction engineering inspection services, which ultimately saved the university money.
Tagert also discussed work on Highway 12, west of town.
“Last year, we were able to get that final overlay connection from the Choctaw County line into our city overlaid,” Tagert said. “We’ve got more work to do on the west end of (Highway 12), with the new development with the Wal-Mart home store. We’ve got an overlay and some sub-surface work on the way for that area.”
Additionally, Tagert mentioned the completion of the project at the Highway 12 and Russell Street intersection and said MDOT hoped to soon get started on improvements along Highway 182.
“We’re continually working with the university trying to find better ways to make sure the university and the city are able to connect and that (Russell Street) intersection has been a long-term issue,” Tagert said. “I think some of the improvements recently have improved some of the pedestrian access …we’re going to see some of those benefits with football season.”
For more, visit the Starkville Daily News website to watch a video of Tagert discussing the Highway 12 project.