Ridgeland leaders have dreamed for decades about transforming West Jackson Street, which extends between U.S. Highway 51 and I-55, into a central, walkable downtown named the Railroad District.
This year, work that city leaders consider transformative will get underway.
The city has been awarded a $15.653 million Safe Streets and Roads for All Implementation Grant to advance a safety project along West Jackson Street, one of Ridgeland’s busiest and most historic corridors.
The funding, administered by the Federal Highway Administration, will support the West Jackson Street/Railroad District Project, a comprehensive initiative designed to reduce crashes, improve pedestrian and bicycle safety and strengthen Ridgeland’s growing Railroad District.
“This grant is a once-in-a-lifetime type of project,” said Ridgeland Mayor Gene McGee. “It will transform West Jackson Street and the Railroad District into an active downtown where walking is encouraged. The key to the success of the project is to improve pedestrian safety.”
West Jackson Street serves as the primary east–west connection between Interstate 55 and U.S. Highway 51, carrying more than 17,000 vehicles daily while also supporting pedestrian activity, nearby schools, medical offices, churches and local businesses. In its current configuration, the corridor has experienced a high frequency of crashes and lacks adequate infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists, McGee said.
The project will apply the Safe System Approach, a nationally recognized framework that prioritizes proactive design strategies to prevent serious injuries and fatalities. Planned improvements include a road diet to reduce conflict points, wider buffered sidewalks, dedicated bicycle lanes, enhanced pedestrian crossings, traffic-calming features, improved lighting and upgraded signalization at key intersections.
“These improvements are about fundamentally changing how this street functions,” said Public Works Director Alan Hart. “This project allows us to implement improvements to slow traffic, improve visibility and create a safer environment for drivers, pedestrians, cyclists and nearby neighborhoods, all while supporting economic revitalization of the Railroad District.”
For its next step the city will begin working through the grant agreement phase and contract with a consulting team about the design process, McGee said.
The process to implement the safety improvements will begin with a survey and then an environmental review before going to design, bidding, contracting and construction, he said.
The city also received a demonstration grant to test the design principles and guide the decision making for the final plan for the implementation project.
“The demonstration project will simulate the improvements with various barriers and striping,” McGee said. “All of the demonstration project elements must be temporary in nature. The demonstration phase will occur before final design of the implementation project so we can use the data to guide us.”
The city anticipates the demonstration project will begin this summer and the implementation project could begin as early as the summer of 2027.
“The construction phase of the implementation project will likely take 10-12 months, so we don’t expect to reveal all the improvements until the summer of 2028,” McGee said. “The demonstration project will only take two to three months to complete.”
The project corridor has been formally identified as a high-priority safety location in the regional Safety Action Plan developed by the Central Mississippi Planning and Development District, the metropolitan planning organization for the Jackson area.
Ridgeland officials said receiving the grant would not have been possible without federal leadership and advocacy.
“The city of Ridgeland is grateful for the leadership of the Federal Highway Administration and for the continued support of Mississippi’s Congressional Delegation,” McGee said. “We especially thank Cindy Hyde-Smith, Roger Wicker, and Michael Guest for their commitment to transportation safety and infrastructure investment in Mississippi communities.”
In addition to improving safety, the project is expected to serve as a catalyst for continued redevelopment within the Railroad District by calming traffic, improving walkability, and encouraging mixed-use growth along a corridor where many properties remain underutilized.
The name, the Railroad District, recalls the significance the railroad played in the founding of Ridgeland in the 19800s. The district was officially named in November 2019 when a historical marker and plaque were installed at the Plaza at Old Town Crossing, which is next to the railroad.
The total project cost is estimated at $19.5 million, with the Safe Streets and Roads for All Implementation Grant covering 80 percent of eligible expenses.
Some of the revenue from the sale of the former City Hall site, which is on the market, and excess real estate at the City Center will provide matching funds for the grant.
McGee considers the Railroad District a unique environment with a mixture of uses.
“It wasn’t long ago that it was merely a cut through from Highway 51 to I-55,” he said. “We have primarily stuck to the master plan that was first developed in 1994 and refined in 2008. Jackson Street is unique in its ability to honor the corridor’s historical significance while blending seamlessly with contemporary infrastructure and modern improvements. This street is well known for its great businesses including retail, office, medical, restaurants and churches.”
Kristin Lape, executive director of the Lily Pad Café at 111 N. Wheatley St. that is in the Railroad District boundaries, said she has seen the master plans for the Railroad District and “they’re great.”
She totally believes in the plan to transform Jackson Street from a bustling corridor to a downtown that is welcoming, family friendly and promotes a sense of community.
That’s in keeping, she said, with the Lily Pad Café, a restaurant that offers a training and internship program for adults 18 and older with intellectual and developmental disabilities, with the goal of the program being a steppingstone in their careers.
Leah Kemp, director of the Fred Carl Jr. Small Town Center at Mississippi State University, said the city of Ridgeland is following a course of action she’s seeing across the state: Many cities and towns are embracing ideas to make them more friendly to pedestrians and bicyclists as well as restaurants and retail.
American Rescue Plan Act dollars have been helpful to some communities to make improvements to make downtowns more inviting, Kemp said, while for others it’s “a matter of funding” that determines when master plans come to life.
