MADISON COUNTY officials say the money is in place and work could begin this summer on the interchange that will connect the Reunion-Annandale Parkway.

District Two Supervisor Tim Johnson, one of the project’s most enthusiastic supporters, said the Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) and Federal Highway Administration should sign off on the plans for the $34 million project in the next 60 days.

Once the plans are approved, the county will be able to file for a permit to proceed. From there, the board can begin advertising for bids and hire a contractor for the project. He said work on the interchange could be finished by the end of 2010.

“We look to turn dirt sometime this year,” said Johnson, a former board president. The second phase of the project calls for taking the interchange from Bozeman Road to at least Parkway East, with plans to extend the roadway to U.S. 51 in Madison.

The road will connect Mississippi 463 to I-55 and help alleviate traffic congestion in the area. Johnson said it will initially be a four-lane road, but the county has enough right-of-way and will move utilities far enough back to expand to six in the future.



THE PROJECT IS being paid for with county and state dollars, as well as donations. “We have about $30 million in the bank and $6 million from MDOT,” he said. Madison has another $6 million in donations from businesses who hope to develop there.

The $30 million is left over from a previous bond issue, a portion of those funds have already been committed to other road projects.

“The main purpose of this development is to move traffic,” he said. “But we know it will provide economic development opportunities in the area.” There are talks of seeing as much as $180 million invested in new retail along the thoroughfare.

St. Dominic Hospital in North Jackson also plans to invest in the area, a move that could ultimately save lives for residents seeking medical treatment.

Officials with the Northside hospital plan to build a new acute care facility on acreage it purchased in the area. The facility would have 75 beds and include a 173,000-square-foot medical center and 145,000-square-foot medical office complex.

If a certificate of need (CON) is granted by State Health Officer Ed Thompson, the hospital would provide an array of services, from surgery in four operating suites to two dedicated endoscopy suites relocated from the Lakeland Drive campus.

While the interchange promises many benefits for Madison residents, some leaders say the money would be better spent maintaining the county’s current infrastructure. Two of those leaders are District Three Supervisor D.I. Smith and Central District Transportation Commissioner Dick Hall.

SMITH doesn’t want local taxpayers paying for a project connected to a federal highway. He said residents are already being taxed for road projects like Reunion with ad valorem and gas taxes.

“We are currently $6 million to $8 million short for building the interchange,” he said. He would support issuing bonds only if taxpayers are given a chance to vote on it.

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Hall made it clear that he doesn’t oppose the Reunion-Annandale interchange being built, he just wants to see the existing Gluckstadt interchange improved first. “If they want to build it, don’t ask for state funds, because this is not an MDOT project,” he said.

He said the county has already begun work on the Gluckstadt Road project and should continue moving forward with it before taking on additional construction.

Madison has built a five-lane road on the east side of the interstate and began work last year to three-lane Gluckstadt Road on the west side in preparation of the flyover bridge being widened. The project has been delayed on a number of occasions.

Johnson, though, said the Gluckstadt project is still several years away from getting started, while dirt can be turning on Reunion in 2009. “We are still in the environmental study of Gluckstadt,” he said. “We’ve done all the legwork on Reunion.”

He estimates that the environmental study can be completed in the next year. From there, the design work and land acquisition have to be completed. “MDOT will have a problem in the northwest quadrant, because the person doesn’t want to give up his land.”

“That’s three years out right there. We’ll still have to build it and that will take at least two construction seasons,” he said. “We are five years out on that project and less than two from having Reunion-Annandale as a functional, working interchange.”

Reunion will give motorists another route when Gluckstadt is closed for construction.

MDOT EXECUTIVE Director Larry “Butch” Brown agrees with Johnson’s argument. He also supports the county’s proposal to build the project with majority local funds. The state Transportation Department is providing funding for on and off ramps.

“The county is paying all but the cost-benefit ratio,” Brown said. “The community is stepping up and funding 75 percent versus us paying for 100 percent of it.”

The state agency agreed to allocate about $6 million for the project several years ago based on a 2002 cost-benefit study. The study showed that the interchange would have a cost benefit of 25 percent. Then, the project cost $24 million to construct.

Today, with the project being more expensive and with more roads and traffic in the area, the board recently authorized a new cost-benefit study to be conducted. The recent study shows that the interchange has a new cost-benefit ratio of about 58 percent.

The board plans to offer more details on the study at an upcoming meeting. Johnson said the board, based on that study, might ask MDOT for additional funding. Brown, though, said the department is unable to commit to more funding at the time.