One segment of Reunion Parkway in Madison County remains to be completed.
That’s the part known as Reunion Parkway Crossing, which will extend from Bozeman Road across I-55 to Parkway East.
Hemphill Construction is the contractor, and work is estimated to be completed by late fall, “early September, maybe October,” said Gerald Steen, who represents District 1 and serves as president of the Madison County Board of Supervisors.
The cost of Phase Two which is the Reunion Parkway Crossing is a little over $28 million, which includes construction, engineering, design and the purchase of right-of-way, he said.
After that stretch is opened, drivers will be able to travel the entire parkway from Highway 463 to U.S. Highway 51.
Earlier this month, officials cut the ribbon on the stretch of Reunion Parkway that extends from U.S. Highway 51 at the intersection of Green Oak Lane to Parkway East.
The total cost of the newly opened segment was $25 million, Steen said, of which construction costs were $22.7 million.
Madison County and the Department of Transportation provided funding.
The newly opened road is expected to help decrease traffic congestion and make the roads safer for travel, Steen said. “It will take people off the thoroughfares and give them another road,” he said.
On the drawing board for well over a decade, plans for Reunion Parkway required countless hours of work by many people at many levels to move forward.
“We’ve had three or four different state appropriations funding it,” said Sen. Walter Michel, who represents District 25, which includes Madison County and a portion of Hinds County.
“It’s two projects on top of each other. The widening of Bozeman Road is tied into it because Reunion Parkway will cross it and extend toward I-55. The two projects are joined at the hip.
“The legislation for Reunion Parkway and the widening of Bozeman Road is well over $30 million. That’s occurred over the last 10 years.”
Major projects such as Reunion Parkway take years to move from just a good idea to reality
because of the numerous steps involved, Michel said. There’s funding to obtain, then the engineering design of the project to complete, bids must let for a contractor to handle construction and along the way rights-of-way must be obtained and often, utility lines need to be moved, and that’s all before construction starts.
“It’s wonderful to see it progress,” Michel said.
Madison County officials are partnering with the Mississippi Department of Transportation to seek funding from the Legislature for additional major improvements, Steen said.
“We’re working with state leaders, Lt. Governor Delbert Hosemann, Speaker of the House Jason White and Gov. (Tate) Reeves to ask for $150 million to $200 million toward widening I-55,” he said.
