The upper Spillway Road project is on schedule, and construction should begin in the spring. Soon, officials will advertise for the project.
“It’s on schedule and will be advertised shortly,” John Sigman, Pearl River Valley Water Supply District (PRV) general manager, said. “Bids will come in during November.”
Once the project begins, construction should only take six months.
“The project won’t take long, but it takes a while to work through Federal Highway Administration paperwork, and we normally want to wait until the monsoon season’s over, like March.”
It’s also more cost effective to build and repair roads when conditions are dry, Sigman said. The design phase is already complete for the project.
Work for the project includes rebuilding and resurfacing the portion of the Spillway over the dam and digging out and refilling soft spots.
“We have to bid out the project, then get in line with the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO),” Sigman said. “The project’s going to be quick, but we have to do it under traffic, so some delays will be experienced.”
The project is a two-party venture between the PRVWSD and Ridgeland.
“It’s the same program,” Sigman said. “Ridgeland got a grant to work on the Spillway from Breaker’s Lane back west (to Old Canton Road). We got a grant to rebuild and resurface over the dam.”
Ridgeland’s portion will cost $2.3 million, and the Reservoir’s portion will cost $1.5 million.
For the other half of the project, Ridgeland is going to mill, overlay, restripe, and upgrade three traffic signals on Spillway Road from Breaker’s Lane to Northpark Drive. Traffic signals are located at Old Canton Road, Harbor Point Crossing and Harbor Drive.
“It’s (a little more than) a mile of four lanes with a center turn lane,” said Mike McCollum, Ridgeland public works director.
The city of Ridgeland will have to pay $425,000 out of local funds for their portion of the project. In March, McCollum said the city received $1.7 million from the (MPO), an organization that receives federal funding, which it subsequently doled out for local transportation projects.
The Central Mississippi Planning and Development District (CMPDD), which covers 10 counties in the state, makes up the state’s central MPO.
When the CMPDD awards money for transportation projects, the Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) will oversee the project.
“We are moving through the steps,” Sigman said. “We’ve completed the design and are moving into the construction phase, but it’s being done by MDOT regulations so we have to go step-by-step. We’re funded by them, so it takes some time.”
