Mississippi State University and the Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors announced a partnership on Wednesday to boost safety and traffic patterns on portions of Blackjack Road adjacent to campus.
The move comes amid increased scrutiny of the county's roads system, and earlier this week the board approved a motion of intent to start the process on securing a $4.5 million general obligation bond for a project on Blackjack Road near the Aspen Heights and Helix apartment complexes.
The MSU-county partnership was prompted after supervisors applied for a $3 million grant from the Mississippi Development Authority to expand the north end of Blackjack Road between Stone Blvd. and Hardy Street; while adding pedestrian safety improvements at heavily trafficked intersections.
If approved, work could start next fall, and the grant would be allocated from the state's Economic Development Highway Act fund. The grant would require a 10 percent project match, which MSU has agreed to cover.
“There’s still some more actions that have to happen to get final approval, but everything is on track for that,” said MSU's Associate Vice President for Corporate Engagement and Economic Development Kathy Gelston. “I continue to be in contact with MDA and have expressed the university’s concerns about safety. We’re getting great cooperation from the county and MDA and we’re doing everything we can to partner with Oktibbeha County to make sure that road gets improved.”
The plans would create slip lans on the north side of Blackjack Road, and allow for improved traffic patters at the two busy intersections. Signaling and striping will also be added. Funds would also be dedicated toward drainage and wetlands mitigation costs associated with the project.
MSU is set to provide an easement to the county as part of the project—if approved.
“There will be a bottomless culvert built along the intramural fields with sidewalks on top of it,” Gelston said. “That means that we’ll have a better ingress and egress for pedestrian traffic and we’ll also deal with our wetlands issues that expanding the Stone/Blackjack intersection is going to cause.”
The partnership coincides with three additional projects in the area, which are either in planning or currently under construction. The new south entrance road will soon connect Blackjack Road at the Stone Blvd. intersection. MSU, the county and the Starkville Board of Aldermen worked to extend the Lynn Lane bike and pedestrian path to Blackjack Road through a federal grant. The county is also looking into options for improving Blackjack Road between Hard and Bardwell roads.
“We have many needs across the county and Blackjack has been a high-priority issue for us,” said District Two Supervisor Orlando Trainer.