Jackson city officials were unsure last week if work on the North State Street Reconstruction Project would continue, with federal funding for it being temporarily cut off.
Recently, the Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) suspended funding for all state and federally funded road projects in the capital city.
The suspension came days after Jackson missed its June 30 deadline for submitting an audit of road spending to the agency.
Jackson was notified of the suspension on July 9.
“We had to do this (as part of) the record,” said Central District Transportation Commissioner Dick Hall. “It was a federal requirement. MDOT had no option.”
Public Works Director Robert Miller said he plans to meet with contractors working on the North State project in the coming days to determine if work should continue.
“At this point, I don’t know what the contractors’ positions are going to be,” he said.
Stopping construction would not only delay the project’s completion but would force contractors to incur additional costs for demobilization and eventual remobilization once the suspension is lifted.
If work continues, the question becomes how long contractors must wait to be paid.
With federally funded projects, the city pays contractors as work is completed, and submits invoices to the state for reimbursement.
“If the audit issues are resolved quickly, it would be prudent to keep going. If the issues are difficult, it may be appropriate to stop,” he said. “At this point, I don’t know what the contractors’ positions are going to be.”
In all, five major road projects on the Northside could be affected.
Construction is under way on the North State reconstruction project, the West County Line Road realignment project and the Fondren Streetscape Project.
The North State and West County Line projects are being funded with $19.5 million in federal TIGER Grant dollars.
The State Street project includes rebuilding the thoroughfare from Hartfield Street to Sheppard Road, and replacing the water and sewer infrastructure underneath.
Hemphill Construction is the contractor.
The West County Line project includes realigning the road’s entrance with East County Line and creating an underpass to allow vehicles to cross under the railroad.
The Fondren streetscape work is being paid for with $2 million in federal transportation enhancement funds. The project calls for repairing and replacing sidewalks and enhancing pedestrian features in the Fondren Business District.
Construction on that project began late last year.
Jackson received another $3.3 million in federal allocations to mill and overlay East Northside Drive from the I-55 North frontage road to North State, and North State from Fortification Street to Woodrow Wilson Avenue.
Jeff Altman, director of MDOT’s local public agency (LPA) division, said MDOT will allow the design work to continue, but will not allow the streets to be bid out for construction until the suspension is lifted.
The LPA division oversees state and federally funded projects.
The city had hoped to bid out the repaving work this fall.
At a meeting last week, Jackson Financial Consultant Michelle Thomas told the city’s one-percent commission that the audit should be completed by July 31.
If there are no questions with the report, Miller said the suspension could be lifted by September.
