http://www.cdispatch.com/news/article.asp?aid=4066

Highway 182 overlay still years away

December 10, 2009 9:45:00 AM

Tim Pratt

City officials met Wednesday with Mississippi Department of Transportation representatives and learned an overlay of pothole-riddled Highway 182 won't take place until 2013.

Additionally, if the Board of Aldermen wants curbs and sidewalks installed along a roughly 1.5-mile stretch of Highway 182 adjacent to downtown, the city would have to pay for it, said MDOT Northern District Engineer Bill Jamieson. The Department of Transportation handles overlays on state roadways, but doesn't typically include curbs or sidewalks in the paving process.

The meeting brought Jamieson and MDOT Northern District Commissioner Bill Minor together with Mayor Parker Wiseman and aldermen Ben Carver, Sandra Sistrunk and Jeremiah Dumas. City engineer Edward Kemp, Chief Administrative Officer Lynn Spruill and Mississippi State University assistant professor of public administration Bethany Stich also were in attendance.

All were concerned about Starkville's infrastructure and transportation opportunities, from roads and sidewalks to bicycle lanes, railroad tracks and shuttle service. The meeting was designed "to address the current condition (of the city) and the changes we see forthcoming in the future," Wiseman said. City officials also drove Jamieson and Minor around the city to show the condition of roads and sidewalks.

A good transportation network is important for businesses looking to move to the area and for residents' quality of life, Stich said.

"We can really see that, as we continue to invest in our infrastructure, from a local standpoint and a state standpoint, we're not going to do anything but continue to grow," Stich said.

Highway 182 often is the first road newcomers see when they arrive in Starkville, Dumas said, so it is important to make improvements. He called the highway a "key, integral part of our city."

The city would be willing to take a section of the highway over from the state so repairs and repaving could take place more often, Wiseman said, but the city doesn't have the money to make that possible. The highway last had an overlay in 2002, Jamieson said. Since then, MDOT has been "maintaining" the roadway, he said.

"The problem with 182 in its current condition is fixing the situation requires a solution that's far more expensive than we can afford," Wiseman said.

Minor also warned that MDOT is working on a tight budget. The Department of Transportation is waiting on federal funds and Minor fears Mississippi's share in the coming year could be significantly lower than past years. The MDOT typically receives between $900 million and $1 billion per year in federal funds, Minor said. This year, he fears it could be around $750 million.

"It's a money issue," Jamieson said. "It's not like we don't want to do it ..."

Wiseman and other city officials were grateful to have a dialogue with MDOT about the city's transportation systems.

"A candid discussion, even if the outlook isn't rosy, gives us the most information to move forward," Wiseman said.

Tim Pratt is the Starkville Bureau Reporter for The Commercial Dispatch.