Drivers on Meadowbrook Road between West Street and I-55 North should use caution because traffic is reduced to one lane in each direction and shifted to the south side of the street.
Construction is underway on the project that will resurface the street and repair failed areas of its base. Work is expected to take about nine months.
The Jackson City Council awarded Hemphill Construction Co. the bid to rework Meadowbrook Road from I-55 to West Street last October.
Hemphill’s bid of $3.31 million was the lowest for the project that will include repairs to the road base, curb and gutter repair where needed, milling and overlay.
As part of the project, Meadowbrook Road will be reduced from four lanes to three lanes to provide a center turn lane and make room for an Americans with Disabilities Act-accessible, multi-use path west of Manhattan Road. The multi-use path for walkers, joggers and bicyclists will be similar to one on Old Canton Road in Fondren.
Improvements to the three traffic signals within the work zone will be made.
Seventy-five percent of the funding for the project is from federal funds and 25 percent from the city’s 1 percent sales tax. The Mississippi Department of Transportation will provide administrative oversight of the project on behalf of the Federal Highway Administration.
Because of the federal funding, the Mississippi Department of Transportation must sign off on the project.
Meadowbrook between Old Canton Road and North State is riddled with potholes and utility cuts, and motorists often must swerve to miss running into the worst crevasses.
About 10,000 vehicles a day travel that section of Meadowbrook Road, according to Mississippi Department of Transportation traffic count maps.
According to data from a 2013 street survey, the majority of Meadowbrook Road between State Street and the interstate was listed in “poor” condition, with only one section that had not gone beyond its serviceable life, according to a street survey conducted by Stantec Consulting Service in 2013.
Stantec evaluated all lane miles of roadway in the capital city, and rated the roadways using specialized equipment.
Between North State and Kings Highway, Meadowbrook Road had three years of remaining life, while between Childress Drive and Old Canton, the street had zero to two years of remaining life, the study showed.
