The Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) had begun construction on a new four-lane highway segment on State Route 76 in Itawamba County.
Worth $81m, the project was partly financed by a $52.4m Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) grant. It was one of the nine projects awarded last month to several companies, worth $130.6m.
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Last month, the contract was awarded to Eutaw Construction Company of Aberdeen and the work is expected to be completed by the end of 2023.
The project is a nine-mile extension of SR 76, staring from SR 23 to SR 25 and the working crew started clearing right-of-way on Martin Road, about half a mile north of Fairview Banner Road.
SR 76 is part of the Appalachian Development Highway System (ADHS) in Mississippi. The project will complete the final portion of ADHS Corridor V, running from Interstate 55 in Batesville to Interstate 24 in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
It will connect intermodal facilities in the three states, including the Port of Huntsville and the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway.
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By GlobalDataThe increased capacity is expected to help carry an anticipated increase in freight traffic, especially between Toyota in Blue Springs and the Toyota-Mazda site in Huntsville, Alabama.
At present, a 2.5-mile four-lane section of Corridor V stretches into Mississippi from Alabama. At present, the freight traffic on the Corridor V has to use a 13-mile section of two-lane SR 23 when travelling from Interstate 22 to Alabama. The new highway is expected to bring down four miles from the trip.
MDOT executive director Melinda McGrath said: “MDOT’s number one priority is the safe and efficient movement of goods and people. This final phase of Corridor V will take freight traffic off two-lane highways and move it to four-lane highways specifically designed for this purpose.”
While the majority of the work will be done away from existing roads, MDOT reminds motorist to be on high alert for highway workers and equipment in the area.
The presence of work zones will add new traffic patterns and configurations that could also be unfamiliar for motorists, the department stated.
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MDOT begins highway construction in Itawamba County. (Credit: Unsplash/Florian Steciuk.)
