Top priorities in for the mayor of Gluckstadt this year include road projects to improve traffic flow, progress on the city’s first park and support for the new businesses.
“We are continuing our efforts to do something to alleviate traffic congestion,” said Walter C. Morrison IV, who was appointed as the first mayor of Gluckstadt after incorporation June 6, 2021, and elected last year when the city held its first municipal election.
Many of the road improvement projects the Madison County Board of Supervisors have funded should ease the traffic congestion Gluckstadt residents encounter, he said.
In May 2024, the supervisors adopted a long-term transportation system plan that includes making Yandell Road to Highway 43 five lanes, widening Stribling Road from Catlett Road to Highway 463 and widening Bozeman Road from Highway 463 to Gluckstadt Road.
The first phase of widening Bozeman Road from Highway 463 to
Reunion Parkway should be completed by the end of the year and the second phase of the project from Reunion Parkway to Gluckstadt Road will get under way after that. That project will benefit residents of Gluckstadt by helping alleviate traffic congestion, he said.
Morrison is hopeful the Legislature will provide funding for the widening of I-55 from the Madison interchange to the Gluckstadt interchange. The Mississippi Department of Transportation requires the interstate be widened before entrance ramps can be added at what would be the new Reunion Parkway interchange, another step that would ease traffic hassles.
Morrison would like for the Legislature to provide funding to widen Gluckstadt Road from Bozeman Road to I-55. “That’s a $10-plus million project,” he said.
In January, the city of Gluckstadt announced it had received a $1.5 million grant from the Mississippi Outdoor Stewardship Trust to develop its first park. A local match of $169,732 is required.
In 2024, the city was given 20 acres along Calhoun Station Parkway, across from Rick’s Pro Truck, as a site for a park.
A conceptual plan for the park shows walking trails, a flagpole, a retention pond, a splash pad, a pavilion and stage. The estimated cost of developing the park is about $6 million.
The funding from the Mississippi Outdoor Stewardship Trust will not totally foot the bill for the park but will go a long way toward developing the infrastructure for it.
“A tremendous amount of dirt work is required,” Morrison said.
The city continues to welcome new businesses, Morrison said, because a government can’t provide services without residents and businesses who pay taxes.
Last year, the new Gluckstadt Municipal Building at 140 Gluckstadt Way was completely finished, Morrison said.
The Municipal Building, which is occupied by the Gluckstadt Police Department and Municipal Court, is historic because it’s the first one the city has constructed.
The 14,000 square foot building, which includes offices, holding cells and dispatch, cost $7 million, he said. The city financed $6 million with a bond issue, applied some available savings and used some other sources of funding, he said.
“The Legislature gave us some grants to help with finance and construction,” Morrison said.
Also notable last year was the city’s first municipal election, he said.
Morrison said that starting a city from Ground Zero is nothing he’s done by himself but with the help of the board of aldermen and current city employees, whom he praises for their dedication.
“I’m extremely proud of the folks who work for the city,” Morrison said.
