The city of Ridgeland plans to test the effectiveness of improvements such as a reduction in speed and an additional traffic signal that are part of the Jackson Street Master Plan.
The master plan for Jackson Street from U.S. Highway 51 to Sunnybrook Road proposes new features like wider sidewalks, on-street parking and slower travel speeds as well as a festival area and aesthetic improvements.
City leaders have dreamed for decades about transforming West Jackson Street into a central, walkable downtown and are moving one step at a time toward doing so.
A federal grant the city received last year will fund a project to determine how effective improvements in the plan would be – before actually spending money to make them.
Ridgeland was awarded a $1.9 million Safe Streets for All grant from the Federal Highway Administration in November 2024 that will be used to study elements in the master plan. Waggoner Engineering has been hired for $20,000 to assist in completing the application for the grant.
“The city will test the same transportation improvements proposed in the master plan, but with temporary measures such as road striping, traffic planters, temporary signals and traffic delineators,” said Ridgeland Mayor Gene McGee.
Traffic monitoring devices will be used to collect before- and after-data about safety conditions.
“The effectiveness will be evaluated based on traffic data, pedestrian and bicycle activity and accident rates before and
after implementing the temporary improvements,” he said. “The study will be conducted to measure the success in reducing conflicts between vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists.”
The installation of the traffic monitoring devices is expected to start before the fourth quarter of this year, McGee said.
The city plans to hire third-party specialists to design the project and evaluate the effectiveness of the safety demonstration effort, McGee said. The grant will also cover data analysis and a report about the speed and safety study.
Throughout the project, multiple parameters will be analyzed, including bicycle safety, accident data, use of pedestrian infrastructure and traffic signal effectiveness, he said. Community feedback will also be sought.
The data collected from the temporary improvements could help refine the final design of West Jackson Street, McGee said. “If certain safety measures prove highly effective in an area, they may be incorporated into the long-term master plan,” he said.
McGee said city leaders have been working diligently to secure funding for the overall Jackson Street Master Plan and the Safe Streets for All grant Program aligns well with the city’s vision for improving road safety.
“The ultimate goal would be to seek a Safe Streets for All Implementation Grant for the majority of the improvements referenced in the Jackson Street Master Plan.
“The current grant funds road striping and other temporary measures, allowing the city to test road safety improvements before installing the permanent changes. It also allows Ridgeland to collect data and make data-driven decisions on how to tailor the permanent improvements and help position the project for additional federal funding.”
In January 2023, city leaders approved the master plan for the Railroad District/West Jackson Street.
West Jackson Street intersects with the railroad, and the name, the Railroad District, recalls the significance the railroad played in the founding of Ridgeland in the 1899. The district was officially named in November 2019 when a historical marker and plaque were placed at the Plaza at Old Town Crossing, which is next to the railroad.
Kimley Horn, a Memphis-based landscape architecture firm, was hired for $85,000 to develop the master plan.
The city continues to look for funding sources. “We will not proceed with other expenses until we have a better idea of the timing of implementation funding or other opportunities,” McGee said.
Implementing the Railroad District Master Plan is expected to cost $17 million and would pay off by improving the pedestrian experience, enhancing the district’s identity as Ridgeland’s official downtown, providing traffic calming measures, creating flexible spaces, optimizing parking in the area and increasing economic development opportunities, McGee said.
“The improvements will create a new experience for those working and visiting the area,” he said. “We envision more retail and restaurants will want to be a part of this historically significant part of Ridgeland.”
Kristin Lape, executive director of the Lily Pad Café at 111 N. Wheatley St. in Ridgeland, said she has seen the 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 not-for-profit restaurant focused on employing and training individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities to give them the work skills and confidence necessary to obtain employment, that opened last December in the district.
“Our goal is not just to provide training for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities but to have community interaction and show how they are an asset to the community,” she said. “We want the community to be involved.”
The master plan for the Railroad District focuses on improvements within the right-of-way and city-owned property in order to create a cohesive, contemporary-traditional aesthetic that will strengthen the identity of the downtown area.
The master plan includes eight projects, ranging from $352,440 to add a traffic signal at the intersection of West Jackson and Perkins streets to about $5.87 million to create a “flush, curb-less streetscape with brick pavers” and other enhancements to the streets and sidewalks in the core area of the district. A 900-square-foot pavilion for activities in the downtown area is also part of the plan.
The Jackson Street area is part of the Ridgeland Area Master Plan that was adopted in 2008 and has been a focus since Colony Park Boulevard was completed and Lake Harbour Drive was extended to Highland Colony Parkway.
Developing West Jackson Street as a pedestrian-friendly downtown has been a vision of city leaders for the last 20 years.
“It has been a long-term goal of mine, and it is really going to set the city apart with this very special place,” McGee said.
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.
The city of Madison turned to the MSU School of Architecture earlier this year for ideas about how to develop what it’s calling the town square, a 17-acre parcel at U.S. Highway 51 and Main Street that it owns.
Attractive landscaping, a walker-friendly design and restaurants and retail were among suggestions for the Madison town square from residents.
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.
